Harry Potter and the Return to Hogwarts
by JustPlugMeIn
Summary: Harry has been invited back to Hogwarts to complete his education.    Please note that I haven't stuck to the deaths in the story  the good guys survived
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

**The dream**

He felt dead. He felt dead and broken and nothing anyone could say or do seemed to be able to dissuade him and as he stared down at the dead bodies of his loved ones he fought to keep the howl of misery, which was fighting to escape, within him.

Ron Weasley, his loyal and trustworthy friend, faithful beyond reason and oh so important. His blue eyes were open but glazed over, staring at something that he could no longer see. His flaming red hair was mingled with blood which had spilled from a deep gash on his forehead and his jaw, slack. He could still hear Ron's scream of terror as he was attacked without provocation, without need and certainly without justice.

Hermione Granger, also his loyal and most trustworthy friend. The girl that had stuck by him through thick and thin, believed him when even Ron turned his back and helped him to remain sane during his latter years at Hogwarts. This girl was now lying next to Ron but unlike Ron her eyes were shut, as though she was sleeping. She looked peaceful, happy almost as her left hand lay just inches away from Ron's, as though they were unconsciously gravitating toward each other…lovers until the end. Her usually bushy brown hair now lay flat beneath her, concealing the wound that ended her life. Even a Witch as cunning as Hermione couldn't help prevent this attack.

George Weasley, just half of what he should be lay at Ron's feet. His face was blank, like Hermione's and splattered with mud. His hair, flaming red like all of the Weasley children was caked in mud and blood was dribbling down his chin.

Fred Weasley, the other half lay next to his twin. His arm reaching out, groping for something. His face was blank and streaked with mud and patches of blood that seemed to be flowing from a hidden wound.

Finally his eyes found her, the beautiful Ginevra Weasley, the woman he had intended to marry was now laying dead next to her brothers. Her eyes half open and her mouth open so slightly that the white of her teeth were visible beyond her lips. Her luscious red hair was flaked with mud, the result of landing heavily in a muddy puddle. Her left arm lay over her stomach and her right reached out to the bodied of her parents, Molly and Arthur Weasley.

He tore his distraught eyes from his lover and turned around slowly where his eyes met the bodies of Hagrid, Sirius, Severus, Professor Dumbledore, Lupin, Tonks, Dobby and so many more faces that he couldn't bare to name. So many people had died because of him, his friends, people that he could call family and people who were going to be his family…everyone he ever knew, ever loved and ever trusted were now gone and there was nobody left…nobody.

"Potter"

Somebody called his name from the distance but when he turned nobody was there.

"Potter!" The voice sounded closer now and very angry but when he turned again, he was still alone.

"Potter!" Something hard hit him over the head and he fell to the floor, just missing the bodies of his friends but…when he opened his eyes the field was empty. He blinked again, this time the field had gone and he was lying on his back with a man with greasy black hair and hooked nose glaring down at him. "How very kind of you to rejoin me, Potter" he hissed "what was that memory?" He snapped

Harry shook his head and groaned as he sat up, his head hurt and the room had tipped slightly "wasn't a memory" he muttered "it's a dream I have been having since Voldemort died"

Severus Snape looked murderous "you are _not _taking this seriously!" he snapped "the Dark Lord may have gone but it does not mean that _you_ are above your education. Now, Professor Dumbledore may have made an exception for you, Granger and Weasley and whoever else missed last year because of the unfortunate events that took place but I want you to know that I fought long and hard against letting you back in. You are lazy, disobedient and obnoxious, just like your father!"

"I would like it if you kept my father out of this, _sir_" Harry growled back "I am proud to be like my father" Harry glared at his professor, silently wishing that he _had_ died at the hands of Voldemort's Snake but just as soon as he had thought it he rebuked himself. He had a new found respect for the man that had taunted, detested and disliked him ever since day one after Harry had seen Snape's life story in Dumbledore's pensieve and found out just how much Snape had sacrificed and risked to protect Harry all because he was his mothers son.

"Well, let's see" and before Harry had the chance to even try and protest, Snape shouted "LEGILIMENSE!"

"PROTEGO!" Harry roared.

Snape deflected Harry's spell and shouted "EXPELLIARMUS!" So that Harry took the rebound of his own spell and smashed into the wall behind him. "No wands Potter" he hissed

"Why do I have to do this?" Harry asked feeling irritated as he rubbed the lump on the back of his head

"Because Dumbledore says so and what the headmaster says, goes! Now get out of my sight before I hex you into next week!"

Harry snatched his wand up from the floor and hurried from the room still scowling. He was much more relieved than he thought he would be when he received a letter from Dumbledore a month ago, inviting him back to retake his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with Hermione, Ron and the rest of the people from his year. He of course kept the Quidditch captaincy from his sixth year and Ron and Hermione became head boy and girl.

He smiled slightly as he trod the familiar path from the dungeons toward the Gryffindor common room, he never would have thought that just three short months ago the castle was almost in ruins it is amazing what magic can fix. "I love magic" he muttered as Peeves appeared out of a doorway on the fifth floor, juggling ink pellets.

"Oooh!" Peeves cackled "it's Potty wee Potter!"

"Get out of it Peeves!" Harry snapped as he instinctively held his bag over his head

"Aint doin nothing if you don't say please" he taunted

Harry sighed, slung his bag back over his shoulder and grabbed his wand as he shouted "Waddiwasi!" A useful spell Remus Lupin had taught him in his third year which sent chewing gum down Peeve's left nostril. Peeves glared at him, dropped the pellets and zoomed off. Harry dodged the pellets as they landed before continuing up the stairs.

"Are you ok Harry?" Hermione asked as he flopped down in the seat they had saved him and sighed heavily

Harry grunted and closed his eyes, willing the images of his friends, dead, out of his mind. They had been haunting him since the death of Lord Voldemort and he sorely wished that he knew if it was just a dream or maybe a warning that was to be heeded. "Snape working you too hard" Ron frowned and then sighed "I don't get why you have to do occlumency again, it didn't work too well the first time did it?"

Hermione frowned and put her book down "did Snape say why he was teaching you? I mean, Dumbledore is just as skilled at occlumency and legilimency as Snape…why couldn't he teach you?"

"Beats me" Harry shrugged

"Anyway" Hermione smiled "it's our first day back"

"Second!" Protested Ron

Hermione frowned at him fondly "first _not_ counting yesterday" she corrected "we don't have homework…how about we go and pay Hagrid a visit?"

"Yeah" Harry stood up "yeah I think he'd like that"

And they hurried from the room, Harry had the invisibility cloak tucked under his right arm and the Marauders Map clenched tightly in his left, just in case they met any unwanted distractions along the way.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Unexpected Owl Post**

Harry Potter, a tall, thin boy with messy black hair and bright emerald eyes was laying on his back on his bed at number 4 Privet drive. A house in which he reluctantly returned to at the end of the battle. True, his aunt, uncle and cousin were no longer residing there but it still held unpleasant memories but he figured he would much rather claim this house as his home than live at number 12 Grimauld Place, a house where neither he nor Sirius Black, his Godfather, much cared for.

The past few months had rested heavily on Harry's mind, he had spent the last year searching for seven horcruxes. One being Tom Riddles diary which Harry unknowingly destroyed in his second year, two being Marvolo Gaunt's ring which Dumbledore destroyed, three being Slytherin's gold locket which had almost killed him last winter, four being Hufflepuffs cup, five being Ravenclaws lost diadem, six being…unknown to him but Harry himself and seven being Nagini, Voldemort's pet Viper which he most commonly fed his victims to…hopefully killing them first.

The battle couldn't have gone any better, with regret they did loose a few of their own…little Colin Creevey for one and Harry couldn't feel any worse about it than he does now. They almost lost Snape and they almost lost most of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore had been away, giving up his position of Headmaster of Hogwarts school to Severus Snape, the potions master and letting two of Voldemort's Death Eaters, the Carrow's, teach and punish which sent most of Dumbledore's Army into hiding because they were the only ones who would stand up to them.

Harry still remembers the return of Dumbledore, it was just after Voldemort had been his with his own killing curse, Bellatrix Lestrange had died at the hands of Molly Weasley and Oliver Wood had carried Colin Creevey's body into the great hall. Harry couldn't work out the look on his face, was it of anger? Loss? Grief? Relief? Maybe it was all of them…He didn't ask.

He sighed as the sound of his Godfather's voice reached his ears. He was singing again, revelling in the feeling of safety and freedom. Sirius had brought and moved into number 4 privet drive, happy to finally be free of his mother's house, leaving it to Dumbledore to use as Headquarters. He didn't understand that Harry hadn't been happy here, he brought the house thinking that he was doing Harry a favour, Harry of course hadn't told him how hellish it had been here, not wanting his Godfather to feel bad about his twelve years of unnecessary imprisonment in the wizard prison, Azkaban.

"Harry" Sirius called "you coming down sometime today or am I going to have to come up there and kick your skinny butt out of that bed?"

Harry ignored him but slid out of bed and padded over to Hedwig's empty cage. It was about this time last year that Harry almost lost his beloved owl, he believed he had until Mrs Weasley told him that she had turned up at 'The Burrow' several weeks after Christmas. Harry smiled at the memory feeling the relief and happiness wash over him once again. She was out hunting at the moment but Harry still missed her, worried that she might not return.

"Harry!" His bedroom door flew open and he turned to see Sirius standing in the doorway "I may as well be back at my mother's house if you are just going to stay up here all the time. Come on down, you have a letter"

Harry nodded, cast one look out into the night hoping that he would see Hedwig souring toward his open window before turning back and following his Godfather from the room and down the stairs. The walls were now lined with pictures and portraits of friends and family, there was a particularly nice one of his parents that Harry liked to look at, it was like staring into the mirror of Erised again except for the fact that the Harry in this picture was only a baby.

Every single one of the people pictures smiled and waved at them as they passed. To anyone else this would seem very unordinary but number 4 Privet Drive now belonged to wizards.

"A letter?" Harry said as they approached the kitchen "but Hedwig isn't back yet"

Sirius shrugged and walked into the kitchen and pointed to a pile of letters which were sitting on the dining table. Harry frowned as he picked up the first letter, it was Dumbledore's writing. He tore it open and read:

_Harry_

_I am pleased to inform you that you are welcome to return to Hogwarts and complete your last year. If you do return however I would like you to resume your Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape for reasons I will discuss with you when and if you return. Please reply via the usual way._

_As always, yours sincerely_

_Professor A. Dumbledore_

Harry groaned of course he would love to return to Hogwarts, it had been his home since he was eleven years old, the only place where he had ever wanted to return to but Occlumency lessons with Snape…

"What?" Sirius asked as he passed a bottle of butterbeer to Harry

"I have been invited back to complete my last year at Hogwarts" Harry muttered

Sirius frowned "isn't that a good thing?"

"Well yeah…if I didn't have to start Occlumency again"

"With Snape?" Harry nodded "well…Harry, as much as I dislike Snivellus…I would jump at the chance to complete my education. I think you should do it"

Harry stared at him, that was the most adult advice he had ever heard his Godfather give to him. "Yeah…I guess so, I'll write to Dumbledore when Hedwig gets back" and then went on to his next letters. He had one from Ron which read:

_Harry! I've just been invited back to Hogwarts! Have you? Let me know before I send my reply_

_Ron_

And one from Hermione:

_Harry, I received a letter from Professor Dumbledore this morning inviting me back to complete our 7__th__ year. I think I'm going to take it because I really want to become a qualified witch plus we'll get to take our NEWTS. Did you get a letter too? Write back as soon as you can._

_Hermione_

And then one familiar looking envelope which turned out to be his Hogwarts letter, there was only one new addition to his book list which was The Standard Book of Spells Grade 7 by Miranda Goshawk and… a badge which told him that he, like two years previously, was once again captain for the Gryffindor Quidditch team…presuming that he was to return.

"Quidditch Captain!" Sirius, who had moved to look at the letters over Harry's shoulders, clapped Harry on the back "nice one Harry!"

"Well…I guess I'm definitely going back now" Harry beamed.

Quidditch, a sport which he had loved and sorely missed over the past year. It's a simple game which is played on broomsticks. There are seven players to a team, two beaters, three chasers, one keeper and one seeker which play with four balls, the quaffle, two bludger's and a snitch. The game is simple really, the players fly around on their brooms and try and score goals. The chasers try and get the quaffle into one of the three hooped goal posts, if they succeed then it scores them ten points for each goal. The beaters use clubs to hit the bludger's at the opposing team to stop them from scoring, the keeper guards the goalposts and the seeker fly's around in search of the snitch. If and when they catch the snitch, their team is awarded an extra one hundred and fifty points and the game ends…simple really and it is a game that Harry Potter became part of in his first year at Hogwarts when he was eleven years old.

Hedwig returned the next day and took Harry's replies to Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore. A week later their Diagon Alley trip had been organised, he was to meet the Weasleys and the Grangers at 'The Leaky Cauldron' on Saturday the 31st of July, the day of his birthday.

"Sirius?" The night before Harry's birthday he walked into the sitting room where Sirius was frowning at a DIY programme on the television…he hadn't worked out how to use the remote yet.

"How these muggles live without magic I don't know" he muttered "Harry, this house took two years to build!"

"What?" Harry frowned

"I can build a whole house in one hour!"

Harry shook his head and turned the television off mentally reminding himself to teach Sirius how to use the remote "Sirius" he repeated

"Yes?"

"What are you going to do when I'm back at school?"

Sirius shrugged "stuff with the Order I suppose, it's not been that busy though…now Voldemort had gone. I think Arthur mentioned about employing me in his department at the Ministry…now that I'm not a convicted murderer" her barked his dog like laugh and then sighed

"So, you don't mind me going?"

"Not at all…look, you go and finish your education, get a job as an Aura…this is _your_ life Harry, stop worrying about me"

Harry nodded and smiled at him "well that's ok then"

"Go to bed" Sirius nodded "tomorrow is going to be a long day."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Diagon Alley**

He shook with grief, a feeling which he become accustomed to within his dreams, as he stared down at the bodies of his friends…yet again Harry awoke the next morning feeling tired and lost.

"Happy birthday to you!"

Sirius's singing met his ears and Harry smiled at the fact that Sirius was singing again.

"Happy birthday to you!" His bedroom door flew open and Sirius entered the room carrying a large chocolate cake with eighteen lit candles "Happy birthday to Harry! Happy birthday to you!" Harry sat up in bed and smiled at Sirius "make a wish!" Sirius told him

Harry closed his eyes, for Sirius's sake and thought _I wish that Sirius doesn't get lonely whilst I am back at school_ before opening his eyes and blowing the candles out in one breath.

They sat and scooped out chunks of the cake and ate it for a few minutes before Harry said "chocolate cake for breakfast?"

"Why the hell not?" Sirius asked as he licked the chocolate icing off his fingers "it's your birthday, you can do whatever the hell you want" an attitude that Sirius held onto all day. He would not let Harry spend a single penny, insisting that he pay for everything…including Harry's school things, new uniform, new quills and parchment, his books, potions ingredients and he almost brought Harry a new broom, '_The firebolt extreme, it's new, it's faster and it's top of the range! Available now, in store._' But Harry put his foot down.

"Why didn't you let him buy you that broom?" Hissed Ron as they sat down for lunch in 'The Leaky Cauldron'

Harry frowned down at his tomato soup "I have my firebolt…"

"So?"

"Harry was right to do that" Hermione said "he certainly isn't someone who takes advantage of somebody else…are you Harry?"

"I prefer to earn it myself" Harry muttered as he looked sideways at Sirius who had just gotten up from the table and said something that sounded like 'gotta drain the snake…be right back'

"Pleasant" Hermione said and then frowned "what is he doing?"

Ron looked around "what? What's who doing?"

"Sirius…the toilets are behind us but he went the other way…"

Ron gave up searching for Sirius and turned back around to continue to talk "Harry, it's your birthday mate _and_ you killed 'you know who!' I think you deserve to be treated!"

"I have to do occlumency again" Harry said in an attempt to steer the conversation away from a topic he didn't really want to discuss

"What!" Ron's spoon clattered onto the table and splattered soup over his hands but he ignored it "who's teaching you? Dumbledore?"

Harry shook his head "Snape"

Ron swore in protest which earnt him a fierce look from his mother "Dumbledore must have his reasons" Hermione said reasonably

"What, like he had his reasons for employing Umbridge?" Ron scowled

"Ronald, we've been over this" she sighed "the ministry placed her in the school to spy on Dumbledore"

"Didn't get much information did they" Ron said stubbornly "and what they did get was false. Fudge" he shook his head "what a wazzack"

Hermione rolled her eyes "he resigned Ron"

"Yeah, only because he had been telling nasty lies about Harry!"

"Well, he tried to rectify his mistake and-" but she got cut off when everyone started singing the happy birthday song to Harry…for the second time that day.

Harry looked up to see Mrs Weasley coming toward him with _another _big chocolate cake with eighteen sparkling candles "Hermione" Harry hissed "_why_ did you have to teach them the muggle birthday song?"

Hermione smiled pleasantly "I think it's nice" and joined in

Sirius turned up just after they had finished _with_ the broom Harry had asked him not to buy and a broad smile fixed across his face "Happy birthday Harry!" He said loudly as he handed Harry the broom "sorry that I didn't have time to wrap it"

Harry gawked at his present and slid his hand up and down the handle, it was sleek, it was marvellous, it was…beautiful. Harry had been against the idea of Sirius spending that much money on him but now he was holding it…"thanks" he said almost in a daze, he didn't really know what else to say.

"Blimey" said Ron as he gazed at the broom "can I have your Firebolt?"

Harry nodded, he was too happy to deny his friend of such a gesture. Ron didn't have a chance to thank Harry before people started passing them their gifts, saying "happy birthday!"

From Ron he got a large pot of ink which changes colour when the user writes, he received a new broom polishing kit to replace his old one, from Hermione.

Mr and Mrs Weasley he was given her delicious home made fudge and some black dress robes to replace his green ones which he had most likely grown out of.

From Bill and Fleur he received a bag which they had performed an undetectable extension charm on it so he didn't have to lug a massive school bag around with him all day.

From Percy he was given an interesting book called '_how to curse your enemies and charm your friends_'

Charlie had given him a pair of green dragon skin boots, Hermione's parents had generously given him ten pounds in muggle money…which he intended to spend on a mars bar and from the twins he was given a selection of their newest and best products which included Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs, trick wands, ton tongue toffee, enough skiving snack boxes to last him the whole year, extendible ears and a bright turquoise pigmy puff which Ginny had named Hugo before Harry could protest.

Ginny, making Harry blush, whispered "you will get mine later…Harry"

"Thanks" he gushed as he stowed everything into his bag, in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, letting Ginny carry Hugo on her shoulder with Arnold, who was amazingly still alive, on the other side.

"We are having a party at ours later" Ginny informed him "everyone is going to be there, Dumbledore, Tonks, Lupin, Hagrid, Snape…"

"Snape!" Ron shouted "why the bloody hell is he coming?"

"Because he was invited Ronald" Hermione said as she stood and took his hand in hers, making his ears go red.

Everyone started to gather up their shopping, ready to apparate back to 'The Burrow.' Harry and Ron stayed behind to wait for Hermione who was seeing her parents back onto the train before returning to 'The leaky Cauldron' and apparating with Harry and Ron.

Harry loved the Weasley house, he had done since the first time he had visited when he was twelve. It was filled with normal everyday things for both muggles and wizards, it was cluttered and untidy but for Harry, having grown up in a very clean, no nonsense kind of house, it was heaven and even though number four privet drive had been made almost unrecognisable since he had moved back in with Sirius he still wanted to leave it all behind.

Two hours of catching up with Ron's family, Harry, Ron and Hermione left everyone else in the living room and made their way up to Ron's 'Chudley Cannon' orange bedroom. Harry sat down the floor with his back up against the wall and rested his head against it.

"Are you ok Harry?" Hermione asked with a frown

Harry nodded at her "just tired" he shrugged

"You look ill mate" Ron told him as he absentmindedly picked at his fraying duvet

"Yes, I thought that too…are you sure that you are ok?"

"Just…bad dreams" Harry confided "every night"

Hermione frowned "would you care to enlighten us further?"

Harry looked at her and immediately saw her and Ron dead and cold upon the floor "no…it's fine, really" he added when they continued to stare at him. "I wonder who else got invited back to Hogwarts" he said as a diversion

"I hope Malfoy hasn't!" Ron said at once and then frowned before saying "Malfoy owes you his life" he grinned "I reckon if he comes back…we could have some fun with that Death eater scum"

"Ron! Harry doesn't want to take advantage, do you Harry?"

"Well…" he debated "it _could_ be fun but no…"

Ron grimaced and went to talk but the bedroom door creaked open and they all looked round to see Ginny standing in the doorway. "Mum said come down, people are starting to arrive"

"People being who?" Ron asked

"Tonks, Lupin and Teddy just got here and Kingsley arrived about ten minutes ago" she told him "and I think…" they heard the front door slam and Mrs Weasley shout up "hurry up! Severus has just arrived!"

"And she thinks that that information will make us Hurry up?" Ron grimaced but let Hermione pull him off the bed and into the hallway. Harry hung back, he wanted to talk to Ginny, he hadn't had a proper chance to talk to her since the end of the battle. "You coming Harry?" Ron called

"Yeah…in a sec"

Ron dithered in the doorway for a few minutes before Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed him "you are so _dense_ Ron! Come on, Ginny wants to talk to Harry"

"Why? Can't we hear what she wants to say to him" Ron's ears had gone red again

"No" and she pulled him down the stairs.

Harry smiled awkwardly at Ginny, he had of course dated her before but when it came down to being alone with her, he couldn't help but feel nervous. "Happy birthday" she said quietly as she stepped forward.

"Thanks"

"I remember this time last year…" her eyes were blazing as she stared at him and she had a small smile fixed upon her face "when I didn't know what to get you because you were going away…I didn't want it to be too big so that you couldn't take it or too small that it would get lost and…" she bit her lip. Ginny has never been a nervous person, Harry figured that growing up with five brothers toughened her up but when it came down to him…she seemed lost for words. "I had the same problem this year…you're eighteen, legal in both worlds and I didn't know what to get…I wanted it to be special, I wanted you to love it…"

"I would love what ever you get me" Harry told her as she moved closer still "you don't have to get me anything…just seeing you is perfect"

"That's what I would have said to you" she whispered and then closed the gap between them.

Kissing Ginny was something Harry couldn't find the words to describe, of course it was perfect, beautiful, sweet and whatever other words he could throw out of his mind but Ginny has something he never felt with Cho…electricity. A spark that seemed to ignite when they touched, something he had missed dearly.

Like a year before the door flew open but they didn't jump apart, perhaps Ginny didn't hear the door bang off the wall or perhaps she didn't care. Even when a voice said "Oh to be young". Obviously the fact that Ginny was now being held up by Harry, her legs wrapped around his waist and her hands tangled in his hair and the fact that Harry was supporting her with both hands on her bottom, didn't faze the intruder at all.

Harry frowned and looked around to see Professor Albus Dumbledore stationed in the doorway, smiling at them. He felt his face flush bright red but Ginny seemed unperturbed "good evening Professor" she said happily as dropped back down to the floor and took Harry's hand in hers

"Don't let me interrupt you. I remember when I was young…" he sighed and smiled out of the window for a moment, maybe reliving a memory from his youth before saying "Molly told me that you were up here Harry, I just need a quick word before we all sit down to an undeniably splendid meal in the back garden."

"In here?" Harry asked still feeling slightly embarrassed

"If Miss Weasley doesn't mind leaving" Dumbledore said politely

Ginny nodded "of course…I'll see you downstairs Harry" and left

Dumbledore shut the door and conjured two squashy arm chairs with his wand, it was a tight fit but they seemed to find enough space to settle amongst the mess of Ron's bedroom. "Maybe it's a good thing I interrupted you" Dumbledore said thoughtfully "teenagers and their hormones"

"Professor I-"

"Oh, no need to apologise Harry, you and Miss Weasley seem to have a connection that many won't be able to understand. Kissing is merely kissing, no bad can come from it, unless of course you can't exercise self restraint, remember that" he smiled.

Harry blushed again, this wasn't really a topic he was prepared to discuss with his headmaster "yes professor"

"Well, I thought I would take up a few minutes of your time to explain why I would like you to recommence your Occlumency lessons, I am sure that you are wondering why"

"Yes, I was sir…it didn't go too well the first time"

"I have spoken with Professor Snape and have asked him to restrain his temper and I ask that you do the same" he looked at Harry knowingly with that same smile still on his face.

"But why not you sir? Why does it have to be Snape again…he hates me!"

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Yeah…him too" Harry scowled

Dumbledore surveyed him for a moment or two before saying "professor Snape doesn't hate you. True there are some mixed feelings…I trust you know that he was in love with your mother?"

Harry nodded "when he thought he was dying…last year, he showed me some of his memories"

"How very clever of him" Harry noticed that Dumbledore did look a little impressed "I did ask him to explain to you…if I wasn't around to do it myself…which of course I wasn't"

Harry nodded "I understand"

"And now" Dumbledore sighed "I will explain why you need Occlumency and why it can't be me to teach you" he leant back in his chair and sighed "Voldemort may have gone _but_ there are others out there that seemed to have been inspired by him and may want to…retake his place. It has become known to most of the wizarding world that you and he could unknowingly communicate via Legilimency"

"But we had a connection" Harry frowned "he took my blood…how can someone else do that?"

"As talented Voldemort was at the art there are others that can push into minds of others without the need of being close by, taking and mastering occlumency may be the best thing that you could ever do Harry."

"And why can't you teach me?" Harry asked feeling slightly bitter

"Because I want you and Professor Snape to make amends and be civil toward one another"

"I am civil!" Harry protested "it's him, not me!"

"It takes two to argue, Harry" Harry opened his moth to argue again but Dumbledore interrupted "Harry, please don't argue. I want you to put your full effort into occlumency, if it doesn't work out with Professor Snape then I may have to take over from him but Harry, please try"

"Yes sir" Harry resentfully promised

"Very good!" Dumbledore beamed "now come on, let us not delay your fabulous birthday meal any longer"


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Snape's warning**

The end of the holidays came far quicker than Harry expected. He had experienced one of the best summers so far. He didn't stay at The Burrow like he would have done summers previously but instead he had Ron and Hermione staying with him. Ron wanted a break from his family and Hermione wanted to see where he grew up, Hermione of course had Dudley's old bedroom which, like the rest of the house, had been transformed. Instead of the horrible floral wallpaper his aunt had insisted on using and replaced it with a much more tasteful colour, the single bed had been changed for a comfortable looking double, the wardrobe had been replaced with a chest of drawers and a walk-in wardrobe had been placed into the small cupboard, using an extension charm to make it bigger.

On the morning of September the first Harry was reliving his birthday night…again, he just couldn't seem to forget the words Snape had spoken to him…

(July 31st)

Harry Followed Dumbledore down the stairs and out into the garden where a large congregation of people were sitting around Mrs Weasleys dining table. Harry of course knew them all. There was: Tonks and Lupin with their three month old son, Teddy who incidentally had inherited his mother's metamporphmagus gene and he was now sporting bright pink hair, a favourite of Tonks. Kingsley Shacklebolt was smiling at him as was Sirius, Hagrid, Fred and George, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy (who had rejoined their side just before the battle at Hogwarts), Arthur and Molly Weasley, his friends Ron and Hermione and lastly Luna and her father. The only person who didn't look remotely pleased to see Harry was Severus Snape his ex potions professor, his soon to be occlumency tutor and his defence against the dark arts professor.

Dumbledore took a seat on one side of Snape and Harry begrudgingly took the seat on the other side, now sitting between Ginny and Snape. "I'm sorry" she whispered to him "these were the only seats left when I got down"

"It's fine" Harry told her as he quickly squeezed her hand.

"Potato Severus?" Harry heard Dumbledore ask "I do insist on it, Molly's roast potatoes are absolutely heavenly" and Harry turned just in time to see Dumbledore dump what looked like half of the bowl of potatoes onto Snape's plate

Harry caught Ginny's eye and had to look away again, in fear of spitting his mouthful of roast lamb all over the man who already detested him.

They all ate and chatted merrily (apart from Snape who was sneering at Mundungus Fletcher who had just arrived and brought a horrible smell of dragon dung and body odour with him as he sat down at the end of the table)

"Sorry am late Molly" Mundungus apologised "any chance of getting some of that meat?"

"No" Molly snapped "you should have gotten here earlier if you wanted dinner" and flicked her wand, making the plates disappear.

Ignoring her mother Ginny leant over to Harry and whispered "what did Dumbledore want?" in a soft tone so that only Harry could hear.

Harry was about to answer when, for the third time that day, everyone started singing happy birthday to him…he made a mental note to hex Hermione later.

"Happy birthday!" Mrs Weasley beamed at him as she put _another_ very large chocolate cake in front of him, it was in the shape and colours of the Gryffindor lion but Harry found it a little harder to appreciate this one…given that it was his third cake of the day. Actually, he felt a little sick.

"You ok?" Ginny frowned as he stared down at the candles wondering if he would accidently throw up on it if he tried to blow out the candles

Harry nodded but whispered "there are only so many chocolate cakes I can stomach in one day…"

"How many have you had?"

"This is my third"

Ginny nodded and said "presents! Come on Harry, I want to see what Tonks and Lupin got you"

He smiled at her gratefully as a pile of presents appeared in front of him. He grabbed the top one which was from Lupin. He tore it open and found a rather sleek photograph album which was filled with pictures of his father.

"Sirius helped me a bit" Lupin told him "we found loads of pictures, there's some of your fathers school days, some of your mother and father before their marriage, some after and you're in some of them…"

"Thanks!" Harry beamed at him before turning back to the album and flicked through it before finding a familiar picture of himself, he was only about two but he was riding a toy broom Sirius had brought him, his father was laughing fit to burst and his mother was watching him fondly…he had seen this picture last year…it turned out that Snape had ripped it in half and taken the half that had his mother in it, they must have had spares.

Tonks had brought him a book called '_how to change your appearance at will_'

"Thought it might come in handy Harry"

From Kingsley he received a ring…which according to him is a muggle tradition to give boys who turn eighteen a signet ring.

Dumbledore had brought him a rather nice quill, which, Harry found out later on, was made from one of Fawkes' tail feathers.

Severus Snape brought him a book called '_mind control – controlling your mind and your emotions_'

"That is one less thing I will have to teach you" he sneered "read it or I will ask for it back!"

Hagrid's present was another photo album but it was of himself, Ron and Hermione. Harry smiled at a picture of himself and his old defence teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart…"did you get these from Colin?" Harry asked before he remembered that Colin had died just months previously.

"I did!" Hagrid surprised him "bin workin on it for over a year…whilst you were away doin yur stuff…Colin had taken some great pictures of yer three, there's a brilliant one of you on yer firebolt" he smiled

"Thanks Hagrid"

It was gone midnight before Dumbledore got up to leave with Snape following suit "thank you Molly for such a wonderful dinner" Dumbledore smiled "but I am afraid that I must take my leave"

"Yes, thank you Molly" Severus uttered and then looked at Harry "Potter, a word if you please" Harry scowled at Hermione and Ron who shrugged at him before getting up to follow Snape toward the front door. Severus bent down to whisper to Harry so that Mrs Weasley and Dumbledore couldn't hear him "mark my words, Potter, if you waste my time as you did before then you _will_ regret it. Do you understand?"

"Yes _sir_" Harry growled

_Mark my words, Potter, if you waste my time as you did before then you will regret it…_

Harry didn't know if that was an actual threat or an empty threat, he frowned and sat up just as the bedroom door flew open and Ron came in looking worried "can't find Hermione" he panted "her stuff is still here but I can't find her anywhere"

"Well…where did you look?" Harry asked reasonably

"Her room…"

Harry shook his head and smiled "come on, she's here somewhere"

They both walked out into the hall and down the stairs "Hermione!" Ron called as he charmed his trunk down the stairs in front of him and set it down beside Harry and Hermione's trunk, Hedwig and Pigwidgeon's cage and Crookshanks' basket. "I told you mate…she's not here!" Ron said with a worried expression on his face.

"I'm in here!" Came a faint voice

"Where did that come from?" Ron frowned

"Here" Harry grimaced as he walked toward the cupboard under the stairs and wrenched the door open.

It of course had been transformed. When they first moved in, Sirius wanted to use it as a broom cupboard but since then he had performed an undetectable extension charm on it and it now resembled a very snazzy looking muggle games room.

"Whoa!" Ron gasped as he ducked in next to Harry "what is _that?_" He asked pointing at a pool table "and that! And that! Blimey Harry, the way you described this place, I thought it was tiny!"

"That's a pool table" Harry sighed "that is a television and that is a games console…and it _was_ small, Sirius placed an undetectable extension charm on it" he looked around and saw Hermione standing beside them, she had Crookshanks in her arms and was looking around "what were you doing in here?" Harry asked

"I wanted to see where you slept" she told him with a sigh "but Sirius seems to have changed the layout"

"And the size…" nodded Harry "and the height…actually it's nothing at all what it used to look like. I wouldn't be able to fit in it now" he frowned and then ducked back out when Sirius called them

"Come on you three, it's ten to eleven, we have to get going!"

"How are we getting there?" Ron asked

"Apparition" Sirius told him as he grabbed two of the trunks "apparate straight onto platform nine and three quarters" he said "I'll meet you there" and he span on the spot and disappeared right before their eyes.

Ron grabbed the remaining trunk that Sirius couldn't manage and Pigwidgeon's cage, Hermione stowed Crookshanks into his carrier and Harry held on tightly to Hedwig's cage "we doing it together or alone?" Harry asked

"Together I think" Hermione nodded. They shuffled their luggage around so that they could hang on to Hermione's hand and not let go as she turned on the spot. Harry felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed into a rubber tube before the sensation relinquished its hold on him and they appeared next to a ruby red steam train which was belching out steam over the bustling platform.

Sirius walked toward them "took you long enough" he smiled "your luggage is on the train, Ginny is sitting with it for the moment"

Hermione and Ron took Hedwig and the rest of the luggage onto the train to give Harry and Sirius privacy to say goodbye. "Well…" Harry said awkwardly "see you soon?"

"Course you will" Sirius grinned as he pulled Harry into a hug "remember to write to me…thought you don't have to call me snuffle's anymore" he reminded his Godson.

Harry laughed "I'll write to you" he promised "bye Sirius"

"See you" Sirius let Harry go and watched him get onto the train, waiting for him to reappear at the window of their compartment.

"You alright Harry?" Ginny asked frowning slightly as Harry reached the compartment and sat down

He nodded "just saying goodbye to Sirius"

"Don't worry about him" Hermione told him "he'll be fine"

"Course he will" Ron sighed "he's done ok for himself"

When the train started to move Harry looked out of the window to see Sirius walking with the train, waving at him. He waved back until the train had rounded the corner and Sirius was out of sight.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Hogwarts**

"See you in a bit Harry" Hermione said as she and Ron made their way out of the compartment

"Yeah, see you in a bit mate" nodded Ron "shouldn't be too long…bit pointless really"

Harry smiled "it's ok, go ahead, I'll be here when you're done."

Once again Harry had almost forgotten that his two best friends have to depart for a bit to be told what to do, being head boy and girl of Gryffindor and all.

"So" Ginny said once Hermione and Rod had left "caught by Dumbledore eh?"

"What did Dumbledore catch you doing?" A dreamy voice asked

Harry and Ginny looked up to see Luna and Neville standing at the door. "Nothing" Harry mumbled, glaring at Ginny.

"So, you got an invite to come back too?" Ginny asked

Neville shook his head as he sat down "well…I guess but the first I knew about it was when my letter came but I don't mind…it means I get to retake last year"

"Was it really that bad?" Harry asked as Luna took a seat opposite him and took out a copy of the Quibbler and started to read it.

"Yeah" Ginny said "it was…well, the bit of the year I was there for but Neville said it got a lot worse"

Harry sighed and rested his head against the window "it's not your fault" Neville said quickly as though he read Harry's mind "Dumbledore was away so I reckon it would have happened either way…the outcome was inevitable, I'm just glad that we didn't lose more people than we did"

Hermione and Ron returned two hours later, just after the lunch trolley had been by. Ron didn't look happy "you wouldn't guess who Dumbledore made head boy for Slytherin" he grumbled as he sat next to Ginny and grabbed a pumpkin pasty

"Malfoy?" Luna, Neville, Harry and Ginny said together

Ron nodded and then frowned as he chewed his pasty "yeah but…" he looked at Hermione "he seems different"

"Different how?" Harry frowned

"Quieter…not a cocky little turd like he was before"

"Well it _has _been tough for him" Hermione said reasonably as she sat next to Luna

"Tough!" Harry snorted "the little toss pot _joined_ you know who, he almost killed Katie, Ron _and_ Dumbledore!"

"Hermione" Ron gulped as he swallowed "pass me that flagon would you?"

"A please wouldn't go amiss" Hermione sighed as she handed the flagon of pumpkin juice to Ron

"Thanks" and threw the liquid down his throat

"I wonder if the castle has been restored" Ginny thought out loud as she stared out into the darkening sky

"Well yes" Luna said, surprising them all "I suppose it has, otherwise we wouldn't all be going back would we?"

"What about the room of requirement?" Harry said suddenly as he remembered the princes book he had hidden in there in his sixth year

Hermione frowned at him "I don't know…everything in there must have gotten destroyed when the fiend fire swept through it, why?"

"No reason" he said quickly but didn't meet her eye.

The rest of the journey went quickly and as the train slowed and the students piled out into Hogsmeade station Harry was relieved that the weather had stayed good as he accompanied Luna, Neville and Ginny in a carriage. Ron and Hermione who had to stay behind and make sure the first years found Hagrid ok…not that it's particularly hard…joined them just before the carriages set off toward the castle.

Harry's heart did a back flip as he caught sight of the castle and it's magnificent structure. He had missed this place. He had missed its secret passageways, its trick stairs, the people who resided and learnt within its walls. It had been his home since he was eleven years old, his escape from number four privet drive where he had suffered from neglect and emotional abuse at the hands of his dead mother's sister and her husband. He stared at the castle and felt that familiar sense of belonging, of warmth and comfort and for the first time in a long while he smiled a true smile.

"Welcome home" Ginny whispered to him as the carriage halted and Harry jumped out and then turned back to offer her a hand. Ignoring Ron's prying eyes as he stared intently at his sister, trying to figure out what was going on.

Harry didn't know what was going on. He hadn't officially asked Ginny if she wanted to be his and his alone but the way that they were both acting…they may as well be.

They dumped their animal cages in the entrance hall and filed slowly into the great hall. Hogwarts had been expertly restored and Harry was very grateful of this. As they sat down Harry instinctively looked up at the staff table and saw Dumbledore smiling at him from the headmaster's chair. He nodded in response and smiled back.

"It's nice seeing him back up there again, isn't it?" Ginny said.

Harry looked round and saw Ginny staring up at the staff table too and nodded "yeah…but you know, I reckon Dumbledore _was_ dead"

Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny stared fixedly at him "what makes you say that, mate?" Ron frowned

"Yes, no one can bring back the dead Harry" Hermione told him "you know that"

Harry did know that. It had been Dumbledore who had told him…after he had seen his parents come out of Voldemort's wand. _No spell can reawaken the dead, Harry._ "I know but" he leant in toward them, ignoring the clatters of more students arriving and sitting down "when I died…you know, last term. I saw him"

"What?" Ginny said, her eyes looking horrified. Harry hadn't spoken about his time in the forest, he didn't really want anyone to know. He didn't mind if they guessed or whatever but he just didn't feel comfortable talking about it.

"I handed myself to Voldemort" Harry muttered, suddenly wishing that he hadn't said anything "and he killed me…well, he killed the part of him that was in me and whilst I was dead I saw Dumbledore…"

"You mean you dreamt it?" Hermione said shortly

Harry shook his head and muttered "just leave it" as Professor McGonagall shushed them all. Left and then re-entered with the first years.

"Is it me or is there more midgets than normal?" Ron muttered as the sorting hat started to sing

_Oh you may not think I'm pretty…_

"Yeah…" Harry frowned "they are pretty small"

"Shhh!" Hermione hissed at them "I unlike you two _want_ to see the sorting!"

_I'll eat myself if you can find a smarter hat than me_

Ron scowled at her "this is the same song it used when we were sorted, Hermione" Hermione ignored him so he turned back to Harry "recognise him?" he nodded at a small boy with mousey brown hair

"He looks like Colin…" Ginny muttered

"Yeah…let's hope he hasn't channelled his spirit" sighed Ron as his stomach rumbled

_And I'll tell you where you ought to be_

Harry scowled "shut up Ron" he snapped in a very Hermione-ish way that even Hermione herself looked round

Ron blinked at him for half a second before realising what he said "I didn't mean…I just thought…"

"I would give anything just to hear him say '_alright Harry_' just one more time" Harry muttered

"Sorry mate…I didn't think"

Harry shrugged and turned back to the sorting hat just as it finished and McGonagall called the first name.

Incidentally the boy who looked like Colin _was _a Creevy, his name was Eric and he, like his brothers before him was placed in Gryffindor. He grinned and turned red as the occupants of Gryffindor table applauded him as he went to join his brother, Dennis, who was sitting at the far end of the table.

Finally after Alfie Zeal was placed into Gryffindor, McGonagall rolled the parchment back up and removed the shabby sorting hat and the stall from the front of the hall and went to take her place at the teachers table.

"Welcome, welcome" Dumbledore beamed "now, I will not keep you from our glorious feast and bore you with an old mans ramblings but please bare with me as I say a few words" he looked around at the hall before saying "rub-a-dub-dub…tuck in!"

"Merlin, I've missed him" Ron sighed as he helped himself to a very juicy looking rump steak

"Sweet corn Harry?" Hermione asked him but didn't wait for an answer as she spooned the yellow corn onto his plate and then served him up a couple of chicken thighs. Harry was watching Snape who was watching him intently. He felt no surge of hate flow through him, instead he felt a surge of respect and for the first time in his life, he smiled at his professor, the man who had picked on him since the day Harry had arrived. But he wasn't surprised when his smile wasn't returned.

It seemed that Voldemort's curse on the defence against the dark arts position had died when he had because Snape was still at the table and so was Slughorn. There were no new teachers at the table this year.

"Harry, are you not hungry?" Ginny's voice broke through his thoughts and he looked around.

"oh…yeah I am" and started to pile food into his mouth

"It's odd isn't it?" Hermione said halfway through pudding. Seeing the blank expressions on Harry and Ron's faces she elaborated "that there isn't a new teacher this year…"

"Oh yeah" Harry nodded "I was thinking that earlier"

Ron scowled up at Snape "still got _him_ for DADA"

"It's only for another year" Hermione told him as she finished her last mouthful of sticky toffee pudding and pushed her bowl away from her "and then you will be a qualified wizard"

"Yeah" he sighed "and then I can try and get a job as an Aura"

"Are you going to continue potions Harry?" Ginny asked

"Yeah, I have too don't I…if I want to be an Aura"

She shrugged "you might have changed your mind"

"Hey" Harry frowned "what did you choose?"

"I want to be a healer" Ginny smiled "so I chose potions, transfiguration, Herbology, defence against the dark arts and charms" she shrugged "I achieved exceeds expectations in all but charms and defence"

"What did you get in charms and defence?" Hermione asked

Ginny grinned "outstanding"

"Nice one!" Harry hugged her, feeling bad that he hadn't asked.

When the plates finally cleared and Dumbledore finally dismissed them they headed groggily up to Gryffindor tower where they all bade each other goodnight and went up to bed.

"It looks like everyone has been kept back a year" Ron yawned as he undressed and got into bed

"That must be awkward for the people who should have started this year" Harry muttered as he stowed his wand on his bedside table and fell onto his bed

Ron shrugged "maybe Dumbledore changed the age or something"

"Maybe" Harry sighed as he twitched his hangings closed and stared above him

"g'night Harry" he heard Ron mutter

"Night…"

And he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Occlumency**

"Ah get this!" Ron groaned at breakfast the next morning "double defence against the dark arts first thing!" He grumbled on for a bit longer before biting forcefully into a sausage and scowling.

Harry peered at his timetable and shrugged, secretly he didn't mind having Snape first but he wasn't going to admit that anytime soon. "It's only Snape"

Ron looked up at him with an odd expression on his face, something between disbelief and surprise "only Snape! Harry, this man has taunted you since our first year! You have more reason than any to dislike him"

"And yet he chooses not to" Hermione interrupted before he could continue "well" she looked at Harry and frowned "don't you?"

Harry shrugged "I…yeah…I don't hate Snape"

"How very touching Potter" came a sneer behind them. All three of them whipped around to see Snape standing behind them, glaring down his long, hooked nose at Harry "I hope that your…attitude doesn't change in my lessons. I don't _like_ big headed Gryffindors" and he stalked off

"What a-" Ron said a few choice words which earnt him a glare from Hermione

"I don't see what Snape has against you" Hermione frowned as she watched the end of his cloak disappear out of the doors.

Harry sighed "yeah well…I do but come on, I don't want to get detention on my first day back"

"You never used to care before" Ginny said as she sat down next to him and gave him a quick kiss "stand up for what you believe in Harry, whether or not it gets you a detention. Snape is just a biased and bitter man…"

That much was true, Harry thought but at least he knew Snape's reasons behind his soul destroying attitude toward him. He smiled at her "yeah but I need to do tryouts this weekend and if Snape gives me detention he will probably do it when it is not very convenient for me"

"Ah yes, tryouts!" Ron sighed "I don't know if I should go for keeper again but with your old Firebolt Harry…"

"Do it" Hermione told him a little forcefully "I think that you are a good keeper Ron"

His ears went red.

"And anyway" Harry said as he looked at Ron "we have a double free after Snape so if he gives us homework we can do it then…"

The morning went quickly and much to Ron's surprise they didn't receive any homework from Snape "You know…I reckon he might have softened up a little…" Ron muttered as they walked back to the common room for their double free period

"Unlikely" Harry grinned "like you said 'a poisonous mushroom doesn't change its-'"

"Spots, yeah" Ron grumbled "ah well" he sighed as he spoke the password 'victory' and clambered through the portrait hole before claiming the seats by the fireplace "we can make the most of it before potions" he leant back in the chair and closed his eyes "two whole hours of nothing but blissful relaxation" he sat up again and said "want to play wizard chess, Harry?"

Some time later Harry and Ron were still engrossed in their game that they didn't hear Hermione say "come on, we had better go, unless you two want to be late?"

"Squash him!" Harry bellowed "it's just a pawn…err, what was that Hermione?"

"Time to go!"

"Oh…right" Harry looked at Ron and said "draw?"

Ron shrugged "only cause you were losing"

"I was not!" Harry protested "I had your queen, both of your rooks _and _a knight; it was you who was losing!" Hermione rolled her eyes as they continued to argue toward the dungeons.

"Anyway" Hermione interrupted them as they reached the dungeons and lined up outside their classroom "I don't think you will be Slughorn's prize pupil this year"

Harry and Ron stopped arguing and looked round at Hermione who was looking rather smug "what makes you say that?" Ron asked

"He doesn't have 'the Prince' to help him this year" she smirked

"Hermione…where _have_you been these past few months?" Ron scowled "Harry is _always_ going to be Slughorn's favourite, why? Well, because last time he was here he was 'the chosen one' and this time he is the kid that saved the entire wizarding and muggle world from Voldemort…"

"Well, then that is a very narrow minded view on things" Hermione said looking annoyed

Harry laughed "seriously…have you just met Slughorn, Hermione? Did you learn nothing from 'the slug club?' and anyway, I don't _care_ what he thinks about me…just as long as I pass and you never know, I might have actually learnt a thing or two from 'the Prince' uh…I mean Snape…think about it, he is a pretty awesome potions master"

Hermione was just about to argue when Slughorn appeared, preceding his rather large stomach "well come on in then" he told them with a smile, his eyes flitting around the group but resting just slightly longer upon Harry. "Today we will be brewing something a little…unordinary" he told them once they had found desks and settled down "does any of you know what 'Magna Carta water' is?"

Hermione's hand shot up in the air and Ron rolled his eyes as she answered "it's a potion which imprisons the drinker within the bottle for 48 hours or more"

"Obviously" he muttered to Harry "like we don't want our own Gene in a bottle"

"Well done Miss Granger! Twenty points to Gryffindor!" He beamed at her before continuing "yes, Miss Granger is quite right. It is a potion which is very rarely used but I thought that it might be fun to brew, maybe a little easy for some of you" his eyes lingered upon Harry again "you will find it on page twenty four of your books. The best brewer will win one hundred and fifty points to their house, you have" he looked at his watch "one hour…go!" The scraping of chairs filled the room as Harry, Ron and Hermione joined the rest of the class as they went to grab ingredients.

"Have you seen how hard this is?" Ron groaned once they got their ingredients and had returned to their cauldrons "add essence of moonstone and stir in dragon blood, continue to stir clockwise until the mixture turns purple…"

"That's the easy bit" Harry told him as he too scanned the instructions "after that we have to add a table spoon of Gnome Saliva and stir in a 'zig zag' until it turns blue, then orange before adding doxy poison which should turn the mixture white…"

Ron groaned "it's too finicky! I get twitchy when things have to be precise"

Harry saw Hermione smirk and glared at her "what, Hermione?"

"Did I say anything?" Hermione asked as she stirred her mixture and smiled when it turned purple

Five minutes before the end of class Harry was stirring his cauldron feverishly as he tried to make his concoction, which was jet black in colour, turn a pure white. He peered over at Hermione's potion, hers, of course, was almost perfect but Ron's was hissing threateningly at him as it bubbled and spat within the cauldron. Harry reached for his jug of 'gnome saliva' and tipped it in carefully to try and dilute it a bit but cursed under his breath when the handle broke and the jug and its contents fell into his potion. He fished it out with his ladle and watched in amazement as his potion turned the purest white he had ever seen.

"And stop!" Slughorn boomed. He didn't have to peer into everyone's cauldrons to know who had one. Harry's mixture was almost glowing. "Harry my boy, you did it again!" He beamed "one hundred and fifty points to Gryffindor and take an extra fifty; your potion is the best I have seen for a long time!"

"How?" Hermione asked as they packed up "how on _earth_ did you manage it?"

Harry shrugged "I dropped the saliva…it was just luck Hermione"

"Well, whatever it was mate; you won us one hundred and fifty points!" Ron slapped him on the back and joined the throng of students leaving the room

Hermione scowled but didn't say anything as they walked into the Great Hall for dinner. She didn't even protest when Ron continued with "and who cares if you don't have the prince to help you…if you carry on with lucky accidents you might just get an NEWT in potions!"

"Maybe" Harry said as he chanced a quick sideways glance at Hermione who was looking rather sour "but…it _was_ just luck Ron, stuff like that doesn't usually happen again" as he helped himself to lamb stew someone tapped him on the shoulder. Harry turned and saw Ginny standing behind him

"Hey Harry" she smiled "Snape asked me to give you this…please don't tell me that you don't have detention already?"

Harry shook his head as he swallowed his scolding hot lunch and winced as it scorched his throat "no" he gasped "though it was you who told me to stand up to my beliefs…"

"I didn't expect you to take me seriously" she shrugged and then handed him a roll of parchment "he says 'don't be late…' you are quite sure that it isn't a detention?"

"Positive" Harry nodded as he unrolled the parchment and scanned the words written upon in.

_My office, 6 o'clock. Do not be late._

"Why?" asked Ron who had been reading behind Harry's shoulder

Harry sighed "occlumency probably or 'remedial potions' as he likes to tell everyone"

"Well, once you have mastered it then you won't need to take 'remedial potions' any more will you?" Hermione told him matter of factly

"But I still don't see why I need it, Voldemort's dead and the connection died with it"

"Well, what did Dumbledore say?" She asked

Harry shrugged "just that there might be others that want to take his place but can delve into minds without a connection or without the need of being close"

"There you go then"

He rolled his eyes and sighed before finishing off his stew and standing up "I guess I had better go then" he said as he donned his bag and looked around at Ginny "see you later?"

"It's more than likely that you will" she replied with a smile before bestowing him a quick kiss and taking the place he had just vacated at the table.

"We'll save you a seat" Ron told him

The walk down to the dungeons was quiet, mainly because everyone was still at dinner and partly because the dungeons is a very cold part of the school so many people don't venture down there without reason.

He knocked on Snape's office door and waited for the abrupt "come in" before entering.

Severus Snape was sitting behind his desk, marking work. He didn't even look up when Harry walked in "you…wanted to see me Professor?"

"Six on the dot, Potter" he said as he pushed the last piece of parchment to one side and stood up "you ought to be careful or people might start to think that you actually _want_ to be here."

"I don't think that people will think I want to take remedial potions, Professor" Harry answered coldly

Snape smirked "no, not remedial potions Potter, the story this year is remedial defence"

Harry couldn't help but snort with laughter. Defence against the dark arts is his favourite and best subject…and anyone who knows him or was in their fifth year 'Dumbledore's Army' group will know that he doesn't need to take remedial defence "I'm sorry but I don't think that story fits"

"So high and mighty that you actually think that you are 'the best' at my subject?"

"No, my exam grades prove that Professor"

Snape stared at him for a brief moment before steering the conversation to occlumency "you and I both know why you are here, so let's get on with it…there is no point in prolonging the inevitable"

Harry glared at him and prepared himself as Snape roared "legilimens!"

Old memories flooded in front of his eyes. Bill and Fleur's wedding being gate crashed, himself, Ron and Hermione tearing through the ministry, arguing with Ron just moments before he left them…

"POTTER!"

Harry opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself still standing. In past experiences he found himself on the floor with a lump forming on the back of his head.

"Were my efforts with you before a total waste of my time?" He snarled

"Probably" Harry shrugged "why do you think I am here?"

"For once" Snape said slowly "you make a good point. Legilimens!"

He was staring down at the graves of his parents, watching a large snake force its way out of Bathilda, a silver doe appeared in front of him, guiding him. He was drowning in ice cold water, Tom Riddle's locket was taunting Ron…

"Potter, get up or so help me…"

This time Harry was laying on the floor and he opened his eyes, panting and sweating as though the locket was still alive and in his possession "the doe was you" Harry panted as he got to his feet "but I didn't see you…"

"Yes" Snape said in a tone Harry wasn't used to hearing issue from Snape's mouth, it was soft…sad "I helped you recover the sword but all the good it did you, you were captured and then a Goblin stole it from you!"

"He tricked me" Harry replied shortly "and…thank you…I never thanked you"

"I didn't do it for you"

"But you have been protecting me since I arrived here" Harry pressed him "but, I thought you hated me"

"This is a conversation that I will not have with you, Potter. Don't try and understand" he snapped before, without warning, he shouted "legilimens!"

He felt dead. He felt dead and broken and nothing anyone could say or do seemed to be able to dissuade him and as he stared down at the dead bodies of his loved ones he fought to keep the howl of misery, which was fighting to escape, within him.

Ron Weasley, his loyal and trustworthy friend, faithful beyond reason and oh so important. His blue eyes were open but glazed over, staring at something that he could no longer see. His flaming red hair was mingled with blood which had spilled from a deep gash on his forehead and his jaw, slack. He could still hear Ron's scream of terror as he was attacked without provocation, without need and certainly without justice.

Hermione Granger, also his loyal and most trustworthy friend. The girl that had stuck by him through thick and thin, believed him when even Ron turned his back and helped him to remain sane during his latter years at Hogwarts. This girl was now lying next to Ron but unlike Ron her eyes were shut, as though she was sleeping. She looked peaceful, happy almost as her left hand lay just inches away from Ron's, as though they were unconsciously gravitating toward each other…lovers until the end. Her usually bushy brown hair now lay flat beneath her, concealing the wound that ended her life. Even a Witch as cunning as Hermione couldn't help prevent this attack.

George Weasley, just half of what he should be lay at Ron's feet. His face was blank, like Hermione's and splattered with mud. His hair, flaming red like all of the Weasley children was caked in mud and blood was dribbling down his chin.

Fred Weasley, the other half lay next to his twin. His arm reaching out, groping for something. His face was blank and streaked with mud and patches of blood that seemed to be flowing from a hidden wound.

Finally his eyes found her, the beautiful Ginevra Weasley, the woman he had intended to marry was now laying dead next to her brothers. Her eyes half open and her mouth open so slightly that the white of her teeth were visible beyond her lips. Her luscious red hair was flaked with mud, the result of landing heavily in a muddy puddle. Her left arm lay over her stomach and her right reached out to the bodied of her parents, Molly and Arthur Weasley.

He tore his distraught eyes from his lover and turned around slowly where his eyes met the bodies of Hagrid, Sirius, Severus, Professor Dumbledore, Lupin, Tonks, Dobby and so many more faces that he couldn't bear to name. So many people had died because of him, his friends, people that he could call family and people who were going to be his family…everyone he ever knew, ever loved and ever trusted were now gone and there was nobody left…nobody.

"Potter"

Somebody called his name from the distance but when he turned nobody was there.

"Potter!" The voice sounded closer now and very angry but when he turned again, he was still alone.

"Potter!" Something hard hit him over the head and he fell to the floor, just missing the bodies of his friends but…when he opened his eyes the field was empty. He blinked again, this time the field had gone and he was lying on his back with Snape glaring down at him. "How very kind of you to rejoin me, Potter" he hissed "what was that memory?" He snapped

Harry shook his head and groaned as he sat up, his head hurt and the room had tipped slightly "wasn't a memory" he muttered "it's a dream I have been having since Voldemort died"

Severus Snape looked murderous "you are _not_taking this seriously!" he snapped "the Dark Lord may have gone but it does not mean that _you_ are above your education. Now, Professor Dumbledore may have made an exception for you, Granger and Weasley and whoever else missed last year because of the unfortunate events that took place but I want you to know that I fought long and hard against letting you back in. You are lazy, disobedient and obnoxious, just like your father!"

"I would like it if you kept my father out of this, _sir_" Harry growled back "I am proud to be like my father" Harry glared at his professor, silently wishing that he _had_ died at the hands of Voldemort's Snake but just as soon as he had thought it he rebuked himself. He had a new found respect for the man that had taunted, detested and disliked him ever since day one after Harry had seen Snape's life story in Dumbledore's pensieve and found out just how much Snape had sacrificed and risked to protect Harry all because he was his mothers son.

"Well, let's see" and before Harry had the chance to even try and protest, Snape shouted "LEGILIMENSE!"

"PROTEGO!" Harry roared.

Snape deflected Harry's spell and shouted "EXPELLIARMUS!" So that Harry took the rebound of his own spell and smashed into the wall behind him. "No wands Potter" he hissed

"Why do I have to do this?" Harry asked feeling irritated as he rubbed the lump on the back of his head

"Because Dumbledore says so and what the headmaster says, goes! Now get out of my sight before I hex you into next week!"

Harry snatched his wand up from the floor and hurried from the room still scowling. He was much more relieved than he thought he would be when he received a letter from Dumbledore a month ago, inviting him back to retake his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with Hermione, Ron and the rest of the people from his year. He of course kept the Quidditch captaincy from his sixth year and Ron and Hermione became head boy and girl.

He smiled slightly as he trod the familiar path from the dungeons toward the Gryffindor common room; he never would have thought that just three short months ago the castle was almost in ruins it is amazing what magic can fix. "I love magic" he muttered as Peeves appeared out of a doorway on the fifth floor, juggling ink pellets.

"Oooh!" Peeves cackled "it's Potty wee Potter!"

"Get out of it Peeves!" Harry snapped as he instinctively held his bag over his head

"Aint doin nothing if you don't say please" he taunted

Harry sighed, slung his bag back over his shoulder and grabbed his wand as he shouted "Waddiwasi!" A useful spell Remus Lupin had taught him in his third year which sent chewing gum down Peeve's left nostril. Peeves glared at him, dropped the pellets and zoomed off. Harry dodged the pellets as they landed before continuing up the stairs.

"Are you ok Harry?" Hermione asked as he flopped down in the seat they had saved him and sighed heavily

Harry grunted and closed his eyes, willing the images of his friends, dead, out of his mind. They had been haunting him since the death of Lord Voldemort and he sorely wished that he knew if it was just a dream or maybe a warning that was to be heeded. "Snape working you too hard" Ron frowned and then sighed "I don't get why you have to do occlumency again, it didn't work too well the first time did it?"

Hermione frowned and put her book down "did Snape say why he was teaching you? I mean, Dumbledore is just as skilled at occlumency and legilimency as Snape…why couldn't he teach you?"

"Beats me" Harry shrugged

"Anyway" Hermione smiled "it's our first day back"

"Second!" Protested Ron

Hermione frowned at him fondly "first _not_ counting yesterday" she corrected "we don't have homework…how about we go and pay Hagrid a visit?"

"Yeah" Harry stood up "yeah I think he'd like that"

And they hurried from the room, Harry had the invisibility cloak tucked under his right arm and the Marauders Map clenched tightly in his left, just in case they met any unwanted distractions along the way.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Explanations**

The corridors were clear of students, teachers, ghosts and animals which made Harry feel like he had taken Felix Felicis again, just without the weird cocky, know it all attitude that it had given him. They walked in silence, still unsure whether they were allowed to be wandering the corridors at night and didn't speak until they were out in the grounds, breathing in the crisp night air which was quite welcomed after the stuffy common room.

"Have any of you noticed that we haven't had any classes with the Slytherins yet?" Ron asked them as they walked through the pumpkin patch and approached Hagrid's front door

"But we have" Hermione said in surprise "you only haven't noticed because there aren't enough of them to cause trouble"

"What?" Harry frowned

Hermione sighed and knocked on Hagrid's wooden door "only a few returned…Goyle died didn't he?"

"Yeah but that's just one" Ron told her

"I assume that they were all invited back" she continued, ignoring Ron "but I doubt that most of them accepted the offer. Only a few in our year returned, Draco, Blaise and Pansy…that's only three out of the possible ten that should have returned"

Hagrid's front door opened, casting them in a bright light which illuminated their faces and they saw him beam at them "Harry!" He pulled Harry into a spine crushing hug before turning to Hermione and Ron who backed away, scared of having their bones broken "well, come in then. Don't want yer three to stand out in the dark much longer do I?"

"Thanks Hagrid" Harry wheezed as he stepped over the thresh hold and into his hut, rubbing his ribs.

"Where's Buck…I mean Witherwings, Hagrid?" Hermione asked as she, Harry and Ron took a seat at the large table "Sirius gave him back didn't he?"

Hagrid nodded as he bustled about making tea "yeah, he's tied out back at the mo'"

"Is there any particular reason that he's tied up?" Ron frowned

"Keeps tryin ter fly back ter Sirius don't he?" Hagrid sighed as he served up the tea and then sat down and pointed to a large plate of rock cakes which sat in the middle of the table. Harry, Ron and Hermione, having more than enough experience of Hagrid's cooking, politely refused. "I don't think that London will accept a creature like Beaky…he isn't what they are used ter, is he?" He sighed and then turned his beetle black eyes on Harry "how are yer Harry?"

"Fine, thanks" Harry nodded "I see Dumbledore fixed up your house"

Hagrid smiled "yeah, great man Dumbledore, great man. An what about yer two?"

"Just fine thanks" Hermione answered "I had to find my parents over the summer"

Harry looked at her for a moment before something clicked and he knew what she was talking about "oh yeah! How did that go?"

"It went ok" she replied simply "finding them was the hard part but once I removed the memory charm I put on them it was easy getting them back to England. Obviously I had to explain what they were doing in Australia and they were both really grateful…upset that I couldn't explain _before_ I altered their memories but grateful all the same"

"Well things are better now for everyone" Hagrid nodded "no more You-Know-Who" he sighed happily "Grawpy is doin much better now; I can understand most of what he is sayin' and I don' have ter worry about im' bein' attacked now cause of you Harry"

Harry smiled briefly but if he was being honest, he didn't actually kill Voldemort, Voldemort killed himself with the killing curse which was meant for Harry, it was just luck that he had cast the shield charm exactly at the right moment. It could have gone wrong, the killing curse could have broken through his shield and hit him but it didn't. Harry's risk had paid off.

They left the warm cabin an hour later with the promise that they would return soon. The castle was just as deserted as it had been when they left and Harry wasn't sure whether he should be nervous or thankful about it.

"I can't believe that Grawp is still living in the forest!" Ron exploded once they were back in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room "is Hagrid insane?"

"He isn't living in the forest" Hermione told him "he's living in that cave Hagrid was hiding in last year and anyway, from what Hagrid says, Grawp is much better behaved now"

"Yeah, coming from the man who tried to raise a baby dragon in his wooden hut, had an acromantula as a pet in the forest AND had a three headed dog…well, he isn't crazy at all" Ron stared at Hermione incredulously before sighing and turned to Harry "want a game of gobstones before we go to bed?"

Harry nodded and started to say "yeah ok then but I-" before he noticed Ginny walking in with that same blazing look on her face she had when they had first kissed, two years previously. Harry got up, ignoring Ron's "mate, where are you going?" and Hermione's smirk as he made his way over to Ginny and wrapped her in his arms.

"I've been thinking" he whispered to her as he pressed his lips just underneath her ear "maybe…now that Voldemort has gone that we can…I mean, if you want to and I totally understand if you don't"

She pulled away from him but stared into his emerald eyes "We can what, Harry? Play Gobstones, annoy peeves together, sneak out of the school…_what_?"

Harry sighed and blushed as he looked away from her "well maybe, I thought that you and I could…uhm…get back together?"

A look of sheer relief washed over her face and Harry was hit by the ray of happiness which expelled its self from her, making him feel her glow too "I thought that you would never ask" she sent him a lopsided grin before kissing him softly and saying "goodnight Harry"

Harry watched her almost bounce up the stairs the girl's common room until she was out of sight and turned back to his friends who were staring at him. He couldn't make out the expression on Ron's face but Hermione looked pleased…almost exasperated. "What was that about Harry?" She asked with a smile as she stood up and collected her bag from the floor "did she agree?"

"Agree to what?" Ron asked looking between his two best friends in confusion

"Goodnight" She pecked Ron's cheek and then Harry's before following Ginny up the stairs

"Agree to what?" Ron repeated but Harry shook his head at him. He felt so elated he didn't think that he could speak. His cheeks ached from the smile which was fixed across his face and he was warm from the blush which lit his face like a beacon.

He didn't think he could do it. It had been a thought which had plagued his mind since the demise of Voldemort. Ginny knew that He was no good at talking to girls let alone asking them out but when it came down to it, he did it and she had agreed. She was his, not Deans, not Michaels but his and he wasn't planning on letting her go, not again. He had no reason to leave her, he loved her…that much he was so sure about and one day he hoped to marry her but for the time being, just knowing that she is his, is good enough for him.

After what seemed like a lifetime Ron cleared his throat, bringing Harry back to reality and then asked "Gobstones?" But like before got no reply and watched as Harry almost floated from the room and up the stairs to their dormitory.

The rest of the week passed quickly, Harry thought it was because he was meant to be doing Quidditch trials but nobody, as of yet, had signed up and it wasn't until he got up on the Saturday morning feeling rather touchy about the whole thing and going down to check the list again did he breathe a sigh of relief. The list had been filled over night.

That sigh of relief didn't last long though.

He, Ron, Ginny and Hermione went down to the Quidditch pitch straight after breakfast with the intention of trying to teach Hermione _something_ about Quidditch. It took them a couple of hours but eventually Hermione hit a bludger with one of the bats and grinned "I see why you like it, it's so…exhilarating!"

Ginny and Harry caught each others eye and turned away quickly but Ron, who had a crush on Hermione, gave her his puppy eyes and said "that was brilliant, Hermione! I think you should definitely tryout for beater"

"Oh, no, I don't think so" she sighed as chatter could be heard behind them "I don't like flying"

Harry turned to see a large group of people coming toward them with broomsticks "well, if you don't want to tryout then you had better get out of the way, unless you want to be trampled" Harry told her and then pointed "tryouts have started"

The group of students this year was no better than the group he had to choose from in his sixth year. They were loud, rude and downright annoying. Some weren't even in Gryffindor!

"Ginny" he begged "help!"

Ginny had a fiery temper which matched her mother; this came in handy in situations like this. She grinned at him and then shouted so loud that _everybody _shut up and stared at her "SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO HARRY OR I WILL HEX YOU!" Ginny can do a mean bat bogey hex.

"Thanks" he muttered "ok" he glowered at them "now you have all shut up I want everyone who isn't in Gryffindor to leave" at least a third of the group left to go and sit in the stands to watch. "Now I want you to line up. Keepers over there" he nodded toward Ron "chasers over there" he nodded at a space about 5 feet away from where the keepers were gathering "and beaters over there" he nodded at a space about 5 feet away from the chasers.

He tried out the chasers first, then the beaters and then the keepers, thinking that if Ron was nervous again then having less people watching would be better but Ron outdid himself, obviously helping to defeat Voldemort last year gave him a new found confidence. He saved three out of three saves and Hermione didn't even need to confund his rivals!

After a very long morning and afternoon he ended up with, Ginny Weasley and two new people called Shelby Roberts and Adam Tompkins as Chasers. Shelby, a third year and Adam, a fifth year were really good, not as good as Ginny but Harry figured that he was a little biased toward her…he did give her a fair tryout though. Ron became keeper (fair and square) and third years, Max and Ellis Manning, became beaters. Max and Ellis amazed Harry beyond words, they were exactly like Fred and George, in personality and talent that is but not looks.

He had Ginny, Ron, Shelby, Adam, Max and Ellis lined up in the changing rooms as he spoke to them. "You all did way better than I expected" he admitted "so well done, you have secured a place on the team. Practices are Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays after dinner and then Saturdays we will have the slot in between breakfast and lunch…"

"Well that wasn't too bad" Ron said once they had been dismissed and they started walking up to the castle for dinner. He was still smiling from his success.

Harry grimaced "not too bad? You can judge properly when _you_ become captain, Ron"

"But I won't _be_ captain, Harry…last year innit?"

"Well I think we actually have a good team this year" Ginny said as she squeezed Harry's hand and sat down next to him at the Gryffindor table and started to help herself to pizza "last years team was _ok_…not that that mattered" she scowled and then helped herself to a few chips

Harry stared at her "why didn't it matter?" He asked, totally disregarding his plate of food

She sighed and chewed quietly for a moment before answering "we never got to play. That rule Umbridge enforced came back and Gryffindor team wasn't aloud to reform"

"Then how come you had tryouts?" Ron asked

"It came in _after_ tryouts…we figured it's because we were better than Slytherin which meant that they would lose so the Carrow's and Snape figured that if they eliminated the better teams then Slytherin would win every match. It didn't matter in the end anyway" she shrugged "no one won anything because of the battle, even though Slytherin would have won"

"How many points above everyone else were they?" Hermione asked, her fork which was still in her hand was forgotten about.

"Put it this way" Ginny answered darkly "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff _and_ Ravenclaw were in minus figures even before the feast"

"They can't do that!" Ron roared making a little first year who was passing them squeak in fright and rush back the way she came "how can we be in minus figures?"

"It was last year Ronald" Hermione told him, rescuing a chip which was drooping from her silverware and put it in her mouth

Ron scowled "but even so, before we just stayed at zero…no minus figures"

"Well the Carrow's fixed it somehow" said Neville who had sat opposite them, joined by Dean and Seamus "I think we were minus 250 after the first week and Slytherin were way up in the thousands"

Dean nodded "everything we did in lesson, even if we just coughed they would dock like 50 points"

"But that isn't fair at all" Hermione frowned "how did they get away with it?"

"It was just the points system" Seamus told her "the Carrow's got away with teaching the unforgivable curses didn't they? What were a few house points compared to the cruciatus curse?"

Harry studied him for a moment and noticed that his face, which had been puffy and bruised the last time he had seen him, had healed up remarkably well. There was neither a scratch nor a bruise on him and then Harry spotted a light green cast "Seamus, what happened to your arm?"

Ron peered at Seamus' cast and frowned "what in the name of Merlin's baggy Y fronts is that?"

"This?" Seamus held up his arm "it's a cast. I broke my arm over the summer and well…" he blushed a little "I've always wanted to have one…"

"Why?" Hermione asked "I've heard that they are really uncomfortable and itchy. Why don't you go on up to the Hospital Wing and get it fixed?"

Seamus shrugged but Harry butted in "so you get off with a couple of black eyes and a fat lip after the battle and you come back from the holidays with a broken arm?" He laughed "how on earth did you manage that?"

"Fell off my broom whilst trying to rescue the neighbour's cat"

"Again" Harry blinked "how the heck…"

"I'm not a great flyer" he shrugged "and that cat was evil"

Ron was still staring at the cast "what is it, like a glove or something?"

"No" Dean laughed "it a muggle thing that keeps a broken bone in the right place whilst it heals"

"Weird" he shook his head and then started to shovel food into his mouth as though he hadn't eaten for weeks.

Hermione stared at Ron in disgust before she turned to Neville and asked "so, are you glad that you got invited back to retake?"

"Oh yeah" Neville nodded "more than I thought I would actually. It's basically like last year was like a nightmare gap year." he sighed and smiled "Dumbledore's great giving us a second chance like that."

"Yeah" Harry muttered, feeling a little bitter toward his Headmaster who had been absent when Harry needed him the most. The whole wizarding world thought that Dumbledore was dead, killed by the man that he had trusted the most but it was just a diversion…in the end. Harry had to admit that when Dumbledore had reappeared, after Voldemort was gone and the battle was over, he hadn't been happy to see the man who had been almost like a father figure to him. In fact, the temptation to actually hit Dumbledore was pretty strong and Harry almost gave in to it.

Hermione and Ginny had noticed Harry's change of mood and nudged him back to reality "what's wrong?" Hermione asked

"Is it your scar?" Ron said in a hushed undertone

Harry shook his head "no, my scar hasn't bothered me for a while" he sighed and then looked up at the staff table where Dumbledore was staring at him. Harry held eye contact for a moment or two but when Dumbledore didn't look away he stood and turned his back on him "I had better get going…"

"What?" Hermione frowned and then remembered that Harry had his occlumency lesson with Snape "oh, ok, we'll wait up for you"

He nodded and bent down to kiss Ginny before walking away from them, out of the Great Hall.

"Clear your mind, Potter" Snape snarled at him two hours later. Harry was holding himself up by leaning against the wall, he was panting and sweating. "Tell me, did you read that book?" Harry shook his head "I thought as much" he hissed "read it!"

"I haven't had time!" Harry protested; this was only partly true. The rest of the week hadn't been as relaxing as the first day; they had received a lot of homework which had kept them up until after midnight just so they could keep up with the popular, growing demand of essays and particularly hard charms they were being given daily.

"Rubbish!"

"It's true!"

Snape hissed at him "you read that book by this time next week, Potter or I will be giving you detention to ensure that it gets read! Now go!" He spat.

Harry didn't need telling twice, he grabbed his bag and hurried from the room, not out of fear but out of anger. He hated being shouted at, especially by Snape. Seething, he roamed the corridors absently until he bumped, headlong, into none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"Harry" Dumbledore smiled at him but received none in return. He frowned a little "what's on your mind Harry?"

"Nothing sir" Harry replied a little more fierce than he had meant. He looked away from his headmaster's piercing blue eyes and muttered "occlumency…"

Dumbledore sighed "would you like to accompany me to my office, Harry, so that we can discuss the real reason for your slight distaste toward me in private?"

Harry didn't want to but he sighed and nodded before following Dumbledore's slippered feet towards the stone gargoyles which had been expertly restored.

"Talk to me Harry" Dumbledore almost begged him once they were sitting comfortably in Dumbledore's large, circular study "tell me what is ailing you so that I can rectify my mistake"

He surveyed Dumbledore wearily for a moment before saying "and what makes you think that it is something to do with you, professor?"

"You body language and your attitude"

"Fine…" Harry almost shouted. He felt frustrated, pushed…cornered "it is you! You _died_ professor; I believed that Snape had killed you. I went to your funeral and then you turn up here and act as though you haven't been gone a day!" Once he had started he couldn't stop "I did your bidding with no clues on how to find those horcruxes, we went for weeks without news, we were caught and _almost_ killed. I spoke to your portrait!" He gestured up at where Dumbledore's portrait had been several months previously "I saw your body when you fell, Professor! Was that fake too?"

Dumbledore frowned and then sighed as he clasped his hands together "Harry…I am truly sorry but that is how it had to be. Voldemort had to believe that I was dead and in order for that to happen, so did everyone else" he stared at Harry's furious expression and then sighed again "I don't expect you to understand but I need you to. In order for you to accept it you need to understand"

"But, when I died…I saw you! I spoke to you and you said that you were dead!"

"That, that is something that I can not explain…not yet. It is something that I, myself haven't totally deciphered yet and I can't explain it until I understand"

"What about your guesses?" pressed Harry "they are usually pretty good!"

"I have a few ideas, yes, but I need to understand it fully before I can even imagine trying to enlighten you. Harry" he leant forward "my disappearance had to be realistic in order for-"

"Voldemort to understand, yes" Harry sighed impatiently "you said but I'm sorry, I don't understand why you couldn't tell me!"

"Lord Voldemort had access to your mind Harry. I couldn't tell you…"

"You _lied_ to everyone! Where the hell did you even go?" His anger was rising again "were you in hiding because that is total bull-"

Dumbledore held up a hand "Harry, you _will _listen to me. I understand that you are angry and I understand that you are feeling pretty hostile toward me but it was necessary! I did what I did in order to protect you and everyone else here at Hogwarts. Do you really believe that I would just run away and leave my staff and students at such a crucial time? No! I am _not_ a coward; I had that painting hung to instruct Severus Snape, to help and assist you and to keep track of you. Yes Severus did believe that I was dead"

"How?" Harry spluttered "how on earth did you do it? You _fooled_ everyone!"

"It wasn't easy" He admitted "it took a lot of magic I have never used before. I did fall from the tower but the curse that should have killed me, didn't because I, like you, chose to die and that, Harry, made all the difference"

"But your body…at the bottom of the tower…I saw you, I cried over you!"

Dumbledore looked down, in shame apparently "yes, that was me. It wasn't difficult to make it look like I was broken but it was painful. After Hagrid moved me, I swapped my body with a doppelganger. A look alike dummy I had created to ensure a realistic death. It mirrored me in height, weight and appearance"

Harry blinked at him "but that…couldn't you just transfigure something to look like you, I mean…a double…" Harry snorted and glared at the portraits of the 'sleeping' old professors at Hogwarts. "And then there's that wand! You left it there for _him_ to get it. You knew that he was after it and you left it there for Voldemort to steal!"

"I was hoping" Dumbledore said slowly "that Miss Granger would figure out the clue that I left for her, so that you could get to the wand before Voldemort"

"And you really think that I would have broken into your tomb and stare into your cold, dead face?"

Albus shook his head "no, I don't think so but Harry, we all do things to ensure others safety, I just hope…in time that you forgive me."

He looked weary and it was because of that, that Harry relented. "Ok…I'm sorry professor…it's just, I spent so much time with you before you died…why couldn't you have clued me in about the hallows?"

"What's done is done and I can't change my decisions, as much as I would like to. I am sure that we all have done something in the past that we wish we could change. I'm not asking for acceptance Harry, I just need you to understand"

Harry nodded "I understand, sir."

"Good" Dumbledore smiled at him "and now, I will bid you goodnight. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Harry before you are forced to give up your leisure time."

Harry stood "goodnight sir" and sent him a little smile before he left the office feeling a little more happier than he had done twenty minutes ago.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Mind control**

Despite Dumbledore's suggestion of enjoying the rest of his weekend, Harry spent most of Sunday reading '_mind control – controlling your mind and your emotions_' the book Snape gave him for his birthday. He tried to ignore the goings on in the common room but come evening, Ron, who was shooting weird glances at him and asking him if he feels ok and Hermione reading over his shoulder and saying "ooh" and "wow, I never knew that!" Became all too much and he lost his temper.

"Yes, Ron, I'm fine and if you ask me again I will hex you!" He turned to glower at Hermione "will you _please_ stop doing that! It's bad enough that I have to read the stupid book without you reading it over my shoulder at the same time! You can read it when I'm done."

He felt a little ashamed at his outburst when he received hurt looks from his friends but shook it off as he tried to finish chapter 20 '_Learn what you forget and forget what you've learnt_' "sorry Harry" Hermione said, still looking rather stung "it's just…"

"We aren't used to you reading." Ron finished "Reading is usually Hermione's thing…"

Harry sighed, marked his page and put the book down "sorry, I have to read it…" he told them as he rubbed his eyes

"Well, why don't you finish it tomorrow?" Hermione suggested "we have two hours free and you've finished your homework…" she eyed him suspiciously before saying "you have finished your homework…haven't you?"

"Uhm…" Harry looked at Ron who shifted uncomfortably in his seat "well…" if truth be told he had finished most of his homework but he found himself a little busier in the recreational side of things what with Quidditch and Ginny…"almost. I still have to practice colour changing charms but we started those last year…I mean…you know what I mean…"

Hermione rolled her eyes "come on then" she sighed

"What?" Harry frowned, feeling just ever so slightly bewildered

"I want you to change the colour of my…" she rootled around in her bag before pulling out a single white glove "glove"

"Uhm…ok…what colour?"

"Green"

Harry nodded as he pulled his wand from his pocket and then concentrated on the glove which lay on the table. He flicked his wand and watched as the glove burst into flame.

"That's certainly much better Harry" Hermione smiled half an hour later. The white glove which had been set on fire, shot across the room and smacked a poor second year girl around the face, unthreaded its self and became encased in a block of ice was now deep green in colour "now turn it back to white"

He sighed, concentrated once more on the glove, flicked his wand and was hugely relieved that it turned white on his first attempt.

"Good!" Hermione beamed and then turned to Ron "ok, now you. Turn the glove green"

Harry watched Ron try to change the colour of the glove, laughing when he made the same mistakes as He did.

"Ron, you are jabbing too hard! It's meant to be soft, swishy…"

"Harry?" Harry turned to see Adam standing behind him "Snape asked me to tell you that he expects you at the normal time tomorrow and that he expects you to have read at least the blurb of 'that book'…" he blinked at him for a moment or two before saying "are you in trouble again because Harry, being captain means that you _should_ attend _all_ Quidditch practices"

Harry frowned "what…oh…yeah, uhm…I have to take occ-uhm remedial defence on Mondays" he groaned "I'd forgotten about that. Ok, Quidditch practice at five on Mondays. It means that you miss dinner but I can talk to Dobby and see if he…"

"Who in Merlin's name is Dobby?" Adam asked

"House elf" Harry said absently "can you pass the message round the others?"

Adam nodded "sure…I'd like to meet this Dobby" and headed off

"What was that about Quidditch?" Ginny asked as she appeared at Harry's side and then perched on his lap and smiled as Harry wound his arm around her waist and rested his hand on her thigh

"I'd forgotten about Snape" Harry told her "so I pulled it forward…"

"And the reference to Dobby?" Ginny had become quite fond of the little elf after she realised that he had saved Harry, Ron and Hermione last year.

"We will be practicing through dinner so I thought I could ask Dobby to bring us something after practice"

Ginny nodded "sounds good. Anyway" she yawned as she watched Ron give another failed attempt at turning the glove green and ducked when it flew past her head…on fire. "As fun as this is, I'm tired so…" she kissed Harry lightly and ran a hand through his already scruffy hair "I'm off to bed. Night" she slid off his lap and walked toward the girls dormitories.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded as she summoned the glove which was still smoking and muttered "finite! Stop jabbing! I told you that already. Look" she took his hand in his and demonstrated the movement "it really isn't that hard."

Ron grumbled something but his neck and ears had turned red at Hermione's touch. Harry chuckled and picked up his book again, hoping to start and finish chapter 21 before he too turned in.

Lights flickered around him, like candles but no heat found his skin. He was naked, cold and shivering. He wrapped his arms around himself as he tried to conserve what little heat he had left. A noise punctuated the silence, a snapping of a twig and a shuffle. He turned and was met by bright red eyes. A pale snakelike face was leering at him and Harry was overcome with a mixture of emotions. Anger, fear and confusion. "NO!" He shouted "you're dead!"

Lord Voldemort cackled in that all too familiar high pitch tone which sent Harry's teeth on edge and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up "Harry Potter" he hissed "at last, we meet, again and now it is my turn to avenge my death!" he held his wand high above him and screamed "AVADA KEDAVRA"

"NO!"

Harry sat bolt up right in bed; the flash of green light stained his eyes. He panted as he tried to blink them away, ignoring the sweat dripping from his brow before sinking back down into his pillows and falling back to sleep. The next morning he didn't remember a thing.

"Did you speak to Dobby then?" Ron asked as they made their way out of the hall and toward defence against the dark arts the next morning.

"Not yet, I'll talk to him in our free period"

"Do you think he will?" Hermione asked him

Harry and Ron gawked at her "Hermione…this _is_ Dobby we're talking about…he will be shoving food into every orifice if we let him!" Ron laughed

They lined up outside the classroom with the rest of their year and the people from Hufflepuff. Harry noticed Ernie Macmillan, a slightly pompous but likeable student, chatting animatedly with Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott before he noticed Harry staring at him.

"Harry!" He came over and shook Harry's hand "we were all wondering if you were going to continue with Dumbledore's army? I mean, we learnt more with you in less than half a year than we did in the 5 years we had been here already!"

Harry shook his head "the room of requirement got wrecked last year so there's nowhere to meet, besides we killed Voldemort last year"

"_You _killed Voldemort last year, Harry…and have you actually checked it?"

"There's no need" he sighed "Crabbe cast the fiendfyre spell…it ruined everything"

"Well, I'll go up and have a look later, there is no harm in checking is there?"

Harry shrugged as the classroom door creaked open "I guess not" and then fell silent when Snape appeared.

"In" he barked but stopped Harry, who was the last to enter, and said "I hope you are not having too much fun Potter, I am quite looking forward to giving you detentions"

"There's no need _Sir_" Harry scowled "I am reading that book"

"And digesting it, I hope…I will be testing you" and then he pushed Harry into the room.

"What was that about?" Ron asked as Harry sat down next to him

Harry shook his head "just…revealing how excited he is about giving me detention"

"But why would he be giving you detention?"

"Ron, why else would I be reading that book?"

Ron shrugged "thought Hermione had rubbed of on you…" which earnt him a scowl and a rather hard jab in the ribs from Hermione.

The lesson dragged by, every minute seemed like an hour and every time Harry glanced up at the clock only a couple of minutes seemed to have passed. He figured it was because he wanted the lesson to be over and go and finish the wretched book so that he could relax before practice.

"That must have been the single, most boring lesson Snape has ever taught" Ron yawned once they had been dismissed and traipsed up to the common room.

"Well I thought that it was rather illuminating" Hermione said

Ron rolled his eyes "_you _would"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Just that you found Binn's lessons interesting so obviously…"

"Obviously What, Ronald?"

"Would you two just shut up and snog already?" Harry snapped "Really, I mean…it's not exactly a secret!"

Hermione and Ron stared at him for half a moment looking dumfounded before Ron spoke "Harry…what are you-"

"Oh shut up Ron!" Hermione had dropped her books and her bag and launched herself into Ron's arms and Ron…looking so shocked caught her and managed to glue himself to her mouth.

Harry rolled his eyes and left them to it, thinking that he could take advantage and use the time without them to read without distractions. He couldn't help but laugh. He had hoped that after their kiss last year that the atmosphere would lighten up around them but things just seemed to go back to the way they were, almost as if the kiss had never happened and they still remained ignorant to their feelings toward each other.

He had one chapter to go when he felt someone sit on the arm of the chair he was sprawled across. He looked up and smiled when his eyes met Ginny's. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Are Ron and Hermione ok?"

Harry frowned "yeah, why?"

"Well…they are…glued up against the wall on the fifth floor"

"Literally?"

Ginny scratched her nose and absently reached down for Harry's hand "I couldn't tell but it _did_ look as though they were eating each other. Not as gross as it was with Lavender but…"

Harry laughed and shook his head as he sat up "I guess I have to take responsibility for that. They were snapping at each other again so I just told them to get over it and snog."

"Well, it has been a long time coming; I just hope they don't over do it." She sighed and then noticed the book laying on Harry's chest "mind control – controlling your mind and your emotions, what on earth is that?"

"Oh" Harry scowled at the book "I have to read it before Saturday and 'digest' it because _Snape will be testing me_" he rolled his eyes and sighed as he stood and gathered up his bag, ready to go to lunch "you coming to lunch?"

Ginny nodded and they left the common room together.

Ron and Hermione didn't turn up to lunch; they didn't even appear during their second free period. They seemed to have moved from the fifth floor and although Harry did search briefly for them, he didn't see them again until potions.

Harry looked up when he noticed them walk in and then sit next to him at their usual places. Both of them looked as though they had been through a hedge backwards and their lips were puffy and red. Harry cleared his throat and tried to wipe the smirk off his face as he said "so…err…did you have an interesting free period? I missed you at lunch"

"Yeah" Ron's voice cracked, he cleared his throat and tried again "yeah…we err…uhm…the Room of Requirement still works!"

"And you found that out how?" Harry raised his eyebrows at the two of them and laughed as they both blushed crimson.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**The true feelings of the Half Blood Prince**

The weather had taken the turn for the worse and the walk down to the changing rooms soaked them through to the skin within seconds.

"It's too bad we can't change the weather" grumbled Shelby who was wringing the water out of her long black hair

Adam ran his hand through his bright blue hair and shrugged "it's not so bad…it's only rain"

They all jumped as a loud rumble of thunder shook the room and a flash of lightning lit the windows "it's fine" Harry told them "look" he pulled out his wand and tapped his glasses as he said "impervious" he then did the same to his head and torso. "It's a water repelling charm" he told them as they looked questioningly at him. They nodded and then copied him "oh, Adam. Could you please keep your hair the same colour during in practices?"

"Ok…ok, why?" Adam frowned, his hair was now jet black

"Because it's easier to see where you are if I know what you look like"

Max stood up just as his stomach gave a loud grumble. "Sorry" he said "I missed lunch as well"

"It's ok" Adam told him "Harry said he'd sort dinner for us…something to do with a house elf named Dobby"

"Oh yeah!" Harry slapped a hand to his forehead. He had forgotten to ask Dobby…"Dobby!" he called and moments later a large crack which wasn't part of the storm sounded and Dobby the house elf appeared. He was wearing an orange T-shirt which had 'Weasley is our King' on it in large black writing and a grinning Ron was staring at them.

"Uhm" Harry frowned "nice shirt Dobby"

"Master Harry likes Dobby's shirt!" The elf squeaked "Dobby must get Harry a Wheezy shirt too!"

"Thanks Dobby" Harry laughed "but not now. Dobby, could you get us some food…for when we are done practicing?"

Dobby bobbed his head up and down "it would be a pleasure sir! Dobby will get Winky to help" and he disappeared with a crack.

Harry sighed, grateful that Dobby was able to help and then looked around at the others. The only people who weren't staring at the place that Dobby had just disappeared from with casual wonder on their faces were Ron and Ginny.

"_That _is a house elf?" Said Ellis with a wonky smile on his face "weird looking things aren't they. Do they all look like that?"

"More or less" Harry nodded and then said "ok, lets get going then…through rain or shine!"

Despite the weather the practice went pretty well, there were injuries and no one slipped from their brooms. It looked like the water repelling charm had worked and to improve their already happy moods, when they walked in to the changing rooms they were greeted by a large, welcoming feast.

Harry had to leave early and left Ron to lock up for him. He hurried through the grounds not bothering to shield himself from the rain which pelted him as he ran because he was soaked the moment he left the changing rooms. He trailed through the school sodden and cold as quickly as he could without slipping, sincerely hoping that he wouldn't run in to Filch or Mrs Norris but as he focused on avoiding the caretaker, he failed to notice Draco Malfoy who was following him.

He was just about to knock on Snape's office door when "hey, Potter"

Harry whipped around and was surprised to find Draco about two inches away from his face, he looked angry "accepted your invite then Malfoy? I would have thought that you would have been ashamed to show your face seeing as you tried to help the wrong side last term"

"Both of my parents are in Azkaban because of you" he snarled

"And…that matters because…"

SMACK

Malfoy punched Harry in the face, causing a blinding pain to shoot through his head as it rebounded off Snape's door "that is for my father"

SMACK

Another punch, harder than the last one "that is for my mother"

"Is this how you repay me Draco?" Harry asked he spat blood out of his mouth and blinked against the lights in front of his eyes

SMACK

He had ignored Harry's question or perhaps he hadn't heard him "and that" Malfoy hissed "is for me" he smashed Harry's head against the edge of the wall before pulling his wand from his robes and hissing "petrificus totalus" and watched Harry fall against the hard wooden door before sneering at him and walking away.

All Harry could do was wait to be found. The rest of the team should be coming this way soon…he tried to ignore the excruciating pain in his nose and head as blood poured from his nose and into his mouth. If this had been a couple of years ago, he would have pulled his wand out the moment he knew Draco was there but today he hadn't. Harry knew that Draco was a coward, that had been proven last year during the battle; he had just hoped that after everything Draco would have changed but obviously he had been wrong.

The door he was propped up against opened, puncturing his thoughts as he fell into the open doorway and landed heavily on his back. He couldn't cry out though, his mouth was clamped shut, just like his arms were stuck to his sides and his legs, glued together. All he could do was stare up at Severus Snape who was frowning at him, his black eyes glittering nastily as though they were laughing.

"Finite Incantatem" Snape said lazily and Harry got to his feet, shaking and panting. "You're late, Potter!" He hissed. It was as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened but Harry, knowing Snape quite well, didn't expect anything more.

"Sorry Professor" Harry said irritably "I was somewhat busy…indisposed"

"It would prefer it if you cut short your leisure time and came to me on time" Snape snapped as he turned his back on Harry.

It took a lot of effort for Harry to not loose his temper. So being punched in the face three times and being hexed was now classed as leisure time? "I'm sorry professor but it wasn't my fault" he gestured at his face as Snape turned back to face him, his memories safely away in Dumbledore's pensieve. "You know…I don't actually _like_ being punched in the face"

Snape eyed him before a smirk appeared on his face "you could have fooled me"

Harry snapped "so what!" Harry shouted "now you aren't dying and I am no longer in danger you are just going to revert to your old self? I saw your memories; I know you loved my mother!"

"Don't" he hissed dangerously "push me"

"And why not? I hope you didn't forget that it was me who saved you, I could have let you die, I could have…"

Snape cut him off "oh we both know that brave Harry Potter couldn't just let someone die" his eyes flashed dangerously "Harry Potter, the 'chosen' one who is so high and mighty he expects everyone to bow down before him. Not I, Potter"

"I _don't_ expect that and you know it" Harry shot back "I just thought that you might have changed toward me but no, you are still a horrible bastard who strives to make my life a misery!"

"How dare you"

But Harry wasn't finished "shut up! I _respect_ you, after everything that you did for me, after everything you did for me because of my mother, because you loved her. How can I hate you?" he shouted "how can I hate the man who begged for my mother to be saved, to beg for my family to be placed into protection"

"But you forget that it was my fault" Snape said quietly, his eyes on Harry's "you forget that your parents died because I gave the dark Lord incorrect information"

"You rectified your mistake" Harry wasn't angry anymore, in fact, he felt like bursting into tears but he didn't. He was face to face with the man who had had a grudge on him for so long, hoping beyond hope that they might finally see eye to eye "Dumbledore asked you to teach me occlumency so that we can…clear the air" he panted, his hands balled in to fists and his fingernails cutting into his palm…waiting in anticipation for Snape to blow up.

Severus Snape seemed to be trying to deal with some kind of emotion, his hands were shaking and his chest was heaving. "Get out, Potter" he said in a hiss "it seems that Dumbledore's attempts to make us 'BFFS' failed. I will inform him that it is he who will be teaching you from now on. Leave"

"But professor…"

"GET OUT OF MY OFFICE, POTTER!"

Harry didn't move "I'm not going anywhere because you know I'm right"

"Oh do you?" Snape sneered

"Yes, I do and if you are angry at me for some other reason then I sure as hell would like to know" he glared at his professor but knew that he had stepped way over the line.

Snape stepped forward; grabbed Harry's soaked robed and hauled him back into the hallway "don't come back!" The door slammed in his face and Harry trailed back up to the common room, giving Snape up as a bad job.

"That was quick, Harry" Hermione frowned when he joined them

"Got kicked out" he grunted

"Again! Harry…"

Harry held a hand up "it's ok. Dumbledore is going to teach me"

"But you were trying this time, weren't you?"

"I read that book didn't I?"

"What did you do to get kicked out?" Ron asked as he chewed the end of his quill

"I asked Snape why he hated me and then when he didn't answer, I told him why I don't hate him…why I respect him and"

Ron bit his quill too hard and sent black ink splattering across everything in the vicinity…including himself, Harry and his half finished essay. Ron however disregarded this and stared at Harry "wait, what?"

Harry scowled at him and muttered "scourgify" not that it really mattered as he was still sitting in his sodden robes "listen…Snape" he sighed "Snape isn't all that bad…give him a break"

"Give him a break!" Ron shouted a little too loudly "he is horrible! He docks points from Gryffindor for no reason, he gives us stupidly long homework" he gestured at his essay "and he picks on you!"

"Yeah…well" he stood up "it doesn't matter…I'm going to have a bath" and left them, hoping to enjoy a relaxing bubble bath in the prefect's bathroom.

October moved in quickly, bringing with it a chill which nipped at your extremities and a frost which seemed to freeze from the inside out. Harry hadn't returned to Snape for occlumency lessons nor had he received word from Dumbledore which made him wonder if he had upset Dumbledore by annoying Snape. On the upside, he found that without having Occlumency three or four times a week, he had more time for homework, Quidditch and of course, Ginny.

He and his team were nervously awaiting the weekend when the first Quidditch match of the year which was to be against Slytherin. Harry had had them practicing every evening and every weekend for the past three weeks and by the last practice, on the Friday, he was confident that his team was good enough to win.

"Good" he beamed at them once they were sheltered from the wind in the changing room "excellent, I think we could win this!" Everyone nodded and muttered in agreement as they fastened up their robes and pulled on gloves, hats, scarves and earmuffs "so, we all eat together in the great hall for breakfast, it will be harder to make any one of us nervous if we are all sitting together" Harry told them "and don't walk the corridors alone. Ginny and Max have already been targeted which means that the Slytherin team are scared. We can't afford to lose any of you, ok?" They all nodded again "right, back up to the common room then" and they all walked out together, as they had been doing for the last few days, since Jeremy Murphy (a beater on the Slytherin team) had tried to hit Max with a curse…it was lucky that his aim was bad and that Max was quick to respond and had automatically cast a shield spell, causing Jeremy's spell to rebound and hit its caster, causing Jeremy to bleed from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

"So, Harry, I was thinking" Shelby said once they were in the castle "as we are the first team to play, we need to set the standard for the other matches and get ahead of everyone else so that we are in line for the cup."

Harry nodded "I was going to discuss this with you all tomorrow"

"I guessed you would be" Shelby continued "but do you mind if I suggest something?"

Harry did mind, mainly because his head was buzzing with the suggested game play for tomorrow but he let her continue anyway. He did value his team and therefore he values and respects their opinions, suggestions and comments "go ahead"

"Well…I was thinking that maybe…if possible you could wait and not get the snitch until we are at least three hundred and fifty points up and when you catch the snitch that leaves us with a score of five hundred and until we get then you just keep feinting to keep Malfoy from catching the snitch"

"That was what I was going to suggest" Harry told her

"We don't need to worry about Draco" Ginny said as she joined in the conversation "Sirius gave Harry a Firebolt Extreme for his birthday. Malfoy still fly's a Nimbus two thousand and one and Ron should be better too, he was given Harry's old Firebolt" they had been playing on school brooms to conceal the fact that they had better brooms that the Slytherin's. In fact all of them except Harry had Firebolt's…the Weasley family had clubbed together and brought Ginny one for her seventeenth birthday.

"Sirius Black?" Shelby frowned "isn't he that convicted mass murderer?"

"Yep" Harry grinned "apart from the fact that he was innocent and he is no longer convicted"

"So…who is he to you then, Harry?"

"He's my Godfather"

"Well, you learn something new everyday" she grinned.

They reached the fat lady and gave the password (Victory!) and climbed into the common room. Splitting off from the group, Harry, Ginny and Ron ventured forward toward where Hermione was sitting, reading Harry's occlumency book.

"Really!" Ron scoffed as he sat next to her and flung an arm around her, letting her snuggle into him "how many times have you read that book now?"

"Four" she sighed as she put it down and smiled at him. Thankfully, they had toned down the kissing and had now settled into a routine not unlike Harry and Ginny's. She turned to Harry and said "how do you know when a dream is a dream?"

Harry rolled his eyes. She had been testing him for two weeks, shooting questions at him when he least expected it. Of course the question wouldn't make sense to Ron and Ginny but to him…"when it is short of details"

"And…"

"Fuzzy at the edges"

Hermione shook her head "a dream is a dream when it contains events similar to ones you have experienced in reality and has been mixed in with fantasy. Harry, you were closer than you were last night"

"Well, my mind isn't a sponge Hermione. It doesn't just suck up information willy nilly"

"It is a sponge actually" she corrected "tell me when a dream isn't a dream"

Harry sighed irritably "I don't need this right now" he told her

"Answer the question"

He shot her a look before saying "when it is extremely vivid and contains events which you have not yet experienced"

She grinned at him "exactly"

"Can I slob now?"

"You may"

He sank deeper into the seat, smiling as Ginny laid her head on her chest "so, do you think I'll do ok tomorrow?" Ron asked looking nervous

"Definitely" Harry told him honestly "you have nothing to worry about"

Ron looked relieved as he smiled at Harry "thanks"

An hour later Harry stood and shouted "right team, bed!" He wanted them to have a goodnights rest so that they would play their best tomorrow. He bade Ginny and Hermione goodnight as he and Ron made their way up to the dormitory.

Dean, Seamus and Neville were already up there chatting on their beds and all turned round to look at Harry and Ron as they walked in. "Alright?" Neville asked as Harry started to undress

"Yeah" Harry nodded

"We were just talking about tomorrows match. Luna is commentating" he grinned

Ron looked up from his trunk; he was in the process of slipping on his pyjama top. He had gotten his head stuck in his sleeve; the scene was so hilarious that everyone cracked up laughing. "Really?" He asked once he had sorted it out and shoved his head through the right hole "I love it when she commentates"

"Me too" replied Dean with a grin etched on his face.

"Have you thought any more about the DA, Harry?" Neville asked "I heard Ernie talking about it the other day. Everyone is eager for it to start again and I know most of the first and second years are interested; especially now we know that the room of requirement still works"

"Yeah…how did you find out?" Seamus frowned "I heard that Crabbe cast that Fiendfyre curse…"

Harry grinned as he climbed in to bed "ask Ron. It was him who told me"

Ron blushed crimson, a colour worthy of any Weasley and muttered something that sounded like "I dunno, don't ask me" as he quickly climbed into bed and tugged the hangings shut, concealing himself from his room mates.

The room of requirement had become his and Hermione's new 'make out' room and the sheer memory of how Ron had told him forced a smile on to his face. "Night guys" Harry said happily as he too shut the hangings and drifted off to sleep more easily that he had expected.

He was dreaming again, definitely dreaming when he became aware that he was being watched which wrenched him from sleep and back to reality and sure enough, when he opened his eyes someone was standing over him, their glasses glinting at him in the moonlight.

It took a lot of effort not to shout out but the sheer shock of seeing Albus Dumbledore standing beside him made him jump so hard he fell out of bed and landed with a thump on the floor. "I am sorry my dear boy" the headmaster whispered as he pulled Harry back to his feet and gestured for Harry to follow him from the dormitory and into the common room.

"Is this a new hobby of yours?" Harry asked him once they were sitting beside the fire. He rubbed his eyes and blinked in the light, his eyes still adjusting to the change in contrast. "You do know I have a match tomorrow?"

"Again, I apologise and no, watching students sleep is certainly not a hobby of mine. I was just about to wake you when you fell and landed on my foot"

"Sorry" Harry muttered not feeling in the slightest bit sorry

"I accept that the fault was mine" Dumbledore nodded "I am sure that you are not accustomed to being woken up by someone standing over you"

Harry jerked his head and shrugged "you would be surprised actually, especially with Peeves floating around and Dobby…"

Dumbledore blinked at him "I have been informed that I am to take over from Professor Snape at teaching you occlumency, Harry"

"Let me explain!" Harry jumped in, sure that Snape had lied about the reasons "I was trying, Professor, I promise but you told me that you wanted Snape-"

"Professor Snape"

"Yes, Professor Snape and I to get along and sort out our differences so I tried to confront the problem head on…"

"I see" Dumbledore said, his blue eyes glittering "and I suppose that Severus didn't take to your method too well?"

Harry shook his head "I'm sorry sir"

Dumbledore shook his head "I already knew, Harry." He sighed "Severus came to visit me shortly after he had removed you from his office. He was, I admit, thoroughly shaken…even a bit remorseful of how he had reacted. You see, Severus is a brave man, Harry, but when confronted by human emotions he becomes fearful. He has been a bitter man for a long time and your…chat…unnerved him a bit"

"But why?" Harry frowned

"You made him think, _you_, Harry, broke him"

"I'm sor-"

Dumbledore held up a hand. The same hand, Harry realised, that had been charcoal in colour a few years back due to a curse. It seemed that Snape had healed him "It's a good thing Harry, there is no need to apologise. You see, he doesn't hate you…he is jealous, not of you, no but of James"

"I know" Harry sighed "because I am my father's son"

"He loves your mother and because of that, James, your father became a natural enemy and when they had you…well…" Dumbledore shook his head "it seems funny to think that Severus wishes that you were his and not James'. Harry, Severus see's you as the child he never had"

Harry felt thoroughly taken aback "what?"

"Naturally he blames himself for the demise of your parents, he did offer to take you in, to show his remorse but of course he was still Voldemort's right hand man so I couldn't allow it, even if he believed Voldemort had gone, I knew that he had to remain or at least look as though he was still waiting for his master to return. I know he doesn't show it, Harry but Severus loves you"

"You woke me up to tell me that Professor Snape see's me as his son?" Harry frowned unsure whether to laugh, scream or cry

Dumbledore shook his head "no, I managed to persuade Severus to give you a second chance. He wants to see you in his office, after the match tomorrow"

"And you couldn't have told me this in the morning?"

"No" he smiled "I am sorry that I woke you Harry. You are free to go back to bed, I will be watching tomorrow" he then got up and walked from the common room, leaving Harry alone and feeling totally and utterly flabbergasted.


End file.
